Trinity Union
by StarLion
Summary: Sequel to Nobodies Divided. Sora is retracing the steps his Nobody took, leading to him to a world far out of the way that Roxas had been to... except the locals aren't welcoming, causing Sora to become separated from his friends
1. Unwelcome Arrival

Yep, it's me again with yet another story. I guess by now I don't really have to tell you Kingdom Hearts isn't mine, but someone might forget about it.

Anyway. If you've read 'Nobodies Divided' you'll recognise a number of old faces from that story here, which is hardly surprising really since this takes place on the same world Roxas visited in that story. Except this time it's not Roxas coming to visit.

Also, there's a second story that'll show up from time to time within this story, exploring the details of a certain boy mentioned in Nobodies Divided who went by the name of Ven, and his relation to Ventus. More on that will be told within the story.

And now, read on!

* * *

><p>Retracing the steps his Nobody had taken hadn't been an easy task to begin with, but Sora had persisted and with the aid of the King and his old friends in Donald and Goofy, the path taken had finally unveiled itself. There were still the odd gaps, some worlds that didn't need returning to, and naturally frequent trips to and from the World that Never Was, but Sora didn't mind – it gave him something to do for a change, rather than sit around waiting for another adventure to come along.<p>

That being said, he privately conceded that there hadn't been all that much of interest so far. The occasionally dumb Heartless showing up, sometimes a little idea into what Roxas had done in a world, but nothing big.

Nothing big... yet.

The route they were following now took them to a world none of them had ever visited, far out of the way compared to most of the other worlds they'd been to. All they could tell was that Roxas had, for some reason, spent an entire week there – beyond that, none of them had any idea what to expect, the only people who could have told them no longer around. All except Roxas himself, who hadn't said a single word to Sora since he'd been awakened in Twilight Town, with the sole exception of their short battle at a station of awakening – and even that may not have happened.

Their target world started to grow larger in the distance he noted, casually observing that this region was devoid of life, Heartless, and generally anything. No wonder this world had been overlooked.

Sora glanced behind him at his dozing friends, envying them their rest. Someone had to fly the Gummi Ship though, and since they'd entrusted that task to him...

He let the ship continue on course, leaning forward to examine the world ahead of them as if it would give him a better view. It seemed to be a rarity among worlds, its influence not just limited to the world itself but a small region into the Lanes Between too, as proven by the twinkling lights over several small satellites, their purpose unknown.

Beneath them the world itself was clearly in a night-time period. What could be seen of the surface through the scant cloud cover was either the deep blue of a darkened ocean, or a glittering mass of lights that were mute evidence of a city, sprawling over vast regions. They were always distant from each other, what lay between masked by the night.

Sora nudged the ship to one side so he could see more of the world. The terminator between night and day came into view, revealing a bleak, mountainous landscape. Sandy yellows for immense deserts, scorched blacks and browns dotted about, even several large craters appeared. There seemed to be only tiny portions of greenery here, never anywhere close to the uninviting greys of another city.

Another ocean came into view on the daytime side of the world, presenting what he guessed must have been a city built on an entire island. How else would it be in the middle of the ocean? He continued to orbit the world, keeping just outside the influence it held around it so he wouldn't enter just yet, continuing to look over the world.

Eventually the oceans and ravaged landscapes gave way to a great green region of forests and fields. In amongst them were the occasional ruins of a city, partly green where nature had reclaimed the land and adapted to the high-rise buildings left behind. What had Roxas come here for?

"Hey guys," he called over his shoulder, still watching the landscape unfold below. "Wake up – we're here."

"About time," Donald grumbled. "Where is it, anyway?"

"Beats me," Sora shrugged. "Doesn't look inviting though. Massive cities, ruined landscapes, nature in the remains of old cities... and a few things above the world."

"Above the world?" Goofy asked curiously. "Like what?"

"Like that there," Sora said, pointing to one nearby satellite. "I've kept us just out of the influence of the world so far so they don't notice us, whatever they're for."

"What about _that_?" Donald exclaimed, pointing ahead. "What's that meant to be?"

What appeared to be a massive space station was not only above the world, but seemed to have fire belching out of certain ports over it as if to provide thrust. Whole sections of it had somehow been turned a partly transparent cyan colour, showing parts of the inside to be inhabited – not by people floating around either, it was as if the station had its own gravity

"Whatever it is, it's massive," Sora answered. "It's even crossing the world border into the Lanes!"

"Is that even possible? And can they see us?"

"Maybe it's just like that 'cause it'd look weird if we only saw part of it," Goofy suggested. "It's really all in that world, but because it's so big it just looks like-" he broke off as a voice emanated from the console in front of them.

"This is Commander Tamayana of the Crystal Palace orbital space station," it boomed. "You have one minute to identify yourselves and your affiliations before we open fire."

"Charming reception," Sora muttered. "I think that means they can see us."

"Better let them know who we are," Goofy said, but Sora shook his head.

"Mickey said not to get involved if we could avoid it. We'll just turn around and head around the other side of the world. That thing is huge, it won't be able to keep up with us. Sooner or later we'll find a safe place."

The station's thrusters didn't falter, continuing to take it on the course around the world away from them. The station's inhabitants had other ideas though. As Sora turned the ship around, he saw part of the station's side open to allow numerous small craft to exit.

"They're heading right for us!" Donald warned.

"Leave them be," Sora insisted. "If we don't attack them, maybe they'll leave us-" now he broke off as the ship shook.

"Alone?" Donald suggested. "Can we fight back _before_ they blow us out of the air?"

"So much for not getting involved," Sora muttered as the sound of weapons fire being exchanged reached him. He concentrated on piloting the ship without running into the satellites or their attackers, letting Donald and Goofy worry about returning fire.

"They're too fast for us," Goofy exclaimed. "They're evading anything we've got!"

"We're taking too much damage, Sora," Donald added. "We've gotta get somewhere safe."

"Like where?" Sora asked. "They're running circles around us!"

"Then we'll have to land!"

"Down _there_? Are you crazy?"

"Better than getting shot up while up here," the little duck retorted.

Sora muttered a few half-formed oaths under his breath then angled the Gummi Ship sharply downwards. They were still above the desert region now, but he could see a coastal metropolis in the distance.

Fire seemed to flare around the ship as they descended at speed, rapidly heating up the insides. Donald tried to keep them cool with a round of blizzard magic, only having marginal success before he gave up.

"Hold on," Sora warned. The ship was still shaking almost as if tumbling down a rocky hill as he fought to keep control.

"They've broken off pursuit," Goofy told him, having to yell to be heard of the noise.

"We came in too fast," Sora replied, "I can't pull it back up enough!"

"You mean we're going to crash _again_?" Donald demanded. Sora didn't reply, focusing his attention.

They were thrown from their various seats when the ship impacted a peak along the way, then jolted around again as it felt like it was bouncing. A roar of noise accompanied more violent shaking of the ship, leaving no opportunity to retake the controls, then it stopped abruptly, throwing all three of them to the front of the ship hard enough to leave them all unconscious.

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><p>Four short figures stood on the roof of an old abandoned shop, watching the streaking comet come in low. They were an oddly assorted group, three of them looking similar in a jacket, shirt and camo-printed pants. One all in white, one in red, and one with a grey jacket, red shirt and green pants. Each of them had a lion's head on the front of their shirts.<p>

Just in front of them, the fourth figure also wearing white but without any marks on him, looked thoughtful.

"You're sure about this?" the young boy who had different colours asked the thoughtful boy.

"Someone has to do something, Tommy," he replied. "The zombies will be all over them within minutes of it stopping."

"There's only three of us, boss," the one in white murmured to Tommy. "We won't be able to take many."

"Whisper's right," the boy in red agreed. "We'd barely have enough time to grab one person from it, even two would be pushing it."

"I don't want you to take more than one, Sparky," The unidentified boy told him. "There'll be three of them," he went on. "Take the human boy somewhere safe, don't worry about the others. Give him two days, then bring him to me. Don't be late though, because I'll be out of town after then."  
>"When will you be getting back?" Tommy asked.<p>

"About a week later. Assault will be here though, if you really need me he'll know how to reach me. Good luck, Tommy – this won't be as easy as the time Roxas was with you."

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that, Oracle," Tommy said in a pained voice.

"The boy you'll be taking with you is... related to him. Keep watch now," The Oracle said. "As soon as that ship of theirs stops, get on the scene and get him out of there."

"You're not staying?" Whisper asked the Oracle as he turned to leave.

"I've stayed in one place too long already," he answered. "Much as I'd love for them to actually try harder to get me, I'd just as rather they didn't catch me in the open. See you all in two days," he added, then left.

Tommy didn't watch him leave, his eyes on the ship the Oracle had pointed out to him. It collided with the remains of an old building on the way in, crashed into the ground and continued into the city, ripping up the ground beneath it as it's momentum carried it far into the city.

"Strange looking craft," Sparky observed, looking over the yellow and red blocks that made it up, hands twitching.

"Keep your mind on the objective," Tommy warned him. "I'm sure you'd love to find out what makes it tick, but not right now."

"The Oracle made a good guess on where to leave us," Whisper told them. "My guess is it'll stop on the intersection just outside this old shop."

"Bet?" Tommy asked with a faint grin.

"Not with you," Whisper replied.

The odd ship was slowing down as it continued in, starting to lean forward as friction overtook momentum until it stopped entirely, the front jerking forward a ways before it tilted back again.

"Told you so," Whisper said smugly. "I count three bodies inside that clear dome. One human. The others..." he trailed off.

"Never mind them," Tommy told him. "Lets move quickly and get the boy out of here before the zombies start to swarm. I'll keep watch, you two grab him."

It took the trio only moments to make their way into the shop and out onto the streets, quickly scaling the ship's sides to the dome Whisper had spotted. It had shifted partially open on impact, allowing him and Sparky to give it a good shove to open a large enough gap to get in.

"Don't forget what the boss said," Whisper whispered to Sparky. "Stop getting distracted and give me a hand with him," he pointed to the spiky haired boy wearing black and blue.

"Wonder where his friends are from?" Sparky whispered back, climbing out to haul the boy from under his shoulders.

"As Roxas woulda said, dunno, don't care. Hold him there while I get out of this contraption so I can help you."

"Hurry up!" Tommy hissed insistently. "We've only got minutes to spare here!"

The two of them hauled the boy out at last, then Whisper lifted him by his feet while Sparky took the shoulders, hurrying after Tommy.

"We'll need a safehouse nearby," Whisper told Tommy when they caught up at another intersection.

"And we'll have to get off this street or we'll be noticed."

"The Tea Shack is still nearby," Tommy said. "They should have broken off their watch on it by now, we'll chance that."


	2. Choosing a Side

**A/N:** If you've read Nobodies Divided (Which I'm assuming you have) then you can skimread most of this chapter, since it'll be fairly familiar to you. Or you could read it as a refresher.

Also, you're welcome to send in suggestions for a name. You'll see who for by the end of the chapter. If you suggest a name and it gets used, you'll even make a cameo appearance later on in the story - a little incentive for you.

Read on.

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><p>When Sora stirred it was to the accompaniment of his body clearly complaining about any number of contusions, bruises and more he must have picked up in the crash-landing. He also sluggishly registered that he was not on the Gummi Ship any longer, the hard floor of it having been replaced with something softer – though only marginally so – that creaked with every slight movement.<p>

He pushed himself up, wincing as his arm threatened to give out underneath him, taking in the room around him. It was almost so empty as to be called bare, whited out windows, a low trunk near one of them, a young boy dressed in white who was dozing in a chair, and underneath him an ancient looking mattress with a few sheets rolled up to serve as pillows.

"Where am I?" he muttered, trying to avoid waking the boy.

He woke up anyway, took in Sora on the bed, then over his shoulder called, "Boss! He's awake!" then to him, "Don't go anywhere. You ought to hear what he's gotta say."

Sora just nodded weakly, swinging himself up to sit on the bed and rub at a few more sore points. After a few moments he realized the crown he kept on a chain was missing, prompting him to search his pockets.

"What did you-" he started.

"Not us," the boy cut him off. "Not on purpose leastways. Boss had us get you outta your little craft to safety, so some stuff mighta got left behind." he frowned then added, "Tommy shoulda been here by now. Wait here, I'm gonna get him."

Sora continued to search himself, finding that everything he'd had on him except his clothes had either been left behind or possibly stolen despite what the boy had said. This was an unfamiliar world, and unfamiliar people... that felt familiar. The lingering effects of Roxas maybe. But why the boy he'd seen too, why Whisper-

He did a double take, the boy hadn't told him his name, but the name had come to him all the same, Whisper.

"So you're awake at last," a new voice said, another boy coming into the room. Unlike the boy before, he wore a grey jacket over a red shirt that had a lion's head on it.

"I was starting to think your crash had done something permanent to you, but apparently not. You can call me Tommy."

"Where am I? And where are my things?"

"Probably still on your ship," Tommy replied. "As for where you are – welcome to King City. You crash-landed here, and my boys and I happened to be close enough to find you."

"Where are my friends then? Donald and Goofy?"

"I honestly don't know. Same goes for your ship. I didn't leave them behind without a reason, believe me on that, but this city... I've been... informed you don't know what things are like here, so it's up to me to fill you in. You can call me and my view biased if you like, but it's a much less biased view than the one you'll get from the other side."

"I don't care about your views, just tell me where my friends are!"

"Easy there," Tommy told him gently, taking the seat. "You have to understand why I left them behind, why I couldn't bring them with me, and that means learning about the situation as it stands here. Just give me the benefit of the doubt and listen to what I have to say, deal?"

"If that's how it has to be... but if anything happens them because of you-"

"Relax!" Tommy insisted. "I've been told to help you anyway, there's no need to threaten me. Now listen. There are two sides here in this city, and neither one likes the other. On the one hand you've got the Corporate Confederation – a bunch of the most ruthless, greedy and powerful corporations in the world that have bought the people elected into power. They make the rules, they make the laws, they make everyone else dance to their tune, and they don't care a whit for anyone but themselves. They are the reason there's next to no natural life left even outside the city, and the reason why most life that isn't human or domesticated became extinct. They are also the ones who by now most likely have your ship and your friends, and take it from me, they won't be giving them up lightly."

"And the other side?" Sora prompted him, already not liking the sound of things.

"What's loosely called the Alliance. The disillusioned younger generations that resent our elders for all the things they got to see but we didn't. For all the arguments all of the many streetgangs have with each other, when push comes to shove we cooperate against our common enemy."

"Those corporate guys."

Tommy nodded, "We call them the zombies, but yes. Each of the various gangs has their strengths and weaknesses, some are large like the Black Guard, others are only small – like mine, which has three members including myself. We may lack the money or the resources the zombies can throw behind their efforts, but we're determined not to give up without a fight. We can see what a mess they've made of the world, and we believe if we can rid ourselves of them we can start to repair the damage – no matter how long it takes to reach that goal. So we rebel against them, we cause trouble, we disrupt their operations wherever possible. They have to be seen to do something, and that means that we get recognition. The common people, those who remain neutral, see us, they hear our views. We get put down as troublemakers, the propaganda just says we're uneducated kids that have taken rebelling too far and we don't understand them, but we understand better than they think. Like I said, you can call me biased, and I probably am, but you'll get a far more biased view from them."

"And if I want to find my friends?"

"Then you'll have the best chances of it if you side with the Alliance, but that doesn't come without conditions. We have the Code we abide by, a code that if you break, the Alliance will turn on you and won't have anything to do with you again. There's only ever been one exception to that, which was caused by the Oracle and a former member of my gang who you might know of. We called him Rocky, but his real name was Roxas."

"Roxas! That's my Nobody's name – you knew him?"

"He was a member of my gang for a week," Tommy confirmed. "That was the only reason I agreed to help you when the Oracle said he needed someone – because you're related to him."

"If I went with you and your alliance... what else would I have to agree to?"

"I won't lie to you, which is more than I can say for the zombies. You'll have to respect our various rules as well as the code. Work with us, become one of us and help us, and in return I will do what I can to have the Alliance help you. You'll be a member of my gang, just like Roxas was, at least for the first two days. The Oracle and I had a discussion over it; in these two days I'm to make sure you get to see other gangs too, so after you've seen him you can decide whether you want to stay with me or go with another gang." Tommy frowned for a moment then added, "We'd like it if you did join us, since as you said, Roxas is your Nobody, but at least you'll have the choice. I'm afraid when he was here the situation kind of insisted that I take him on without giving him the chance."

"If I go with another, will they also help like you would?"

"Of course. That's one of the core rules of the Alliance. If I give you my word, the rest of the Alliance will respect that. If you were to become a part of another gang, then all I'd have to do is talk to your new gang leader, make him aware of what I agreed to do, and they would do it too. Some of them might even cooperate with me and allow me to continue to handle it myself, but that all depends on the discussion between me and them."

"And the Code? What's that about?"

"Three simple rules that have kept us alive and fighting for this long and probably longer. First, your word is your bond in whatever form given. You never give it if you can't keep it, and you never break it for anything. Second, money isn't worth blood. While the Alliance works mostly through barter, trading wanted goods for needed goods, we still need money from time to time. We don't do stupid things to get it, only what we can get away with. Roxas once pulled off a very neat little con over in Broadway once that netted us a lot of money and they still haven't tracked it down to us yet. Anyway, lastly, and most importantly – you never turn anyone in the Alliance into the Machine – that's the zombies – not for any reason. If you've a problem with them, you solve it within the alliance, you don't hand them over to the zombies."

"What would I get if I tried to go with them? The zombies I mean."

"A tissue of lies, propaganda, and no help from the Alliance. The only exception is you're an inside man, but only the bigger gangs do that, and normally only the Black Guard get away with it. They'll try to exploit you for everything they can get out of you. They might show you to your ship, but only so they can steal its secrets."

"What choice do I have then?" Sora asked helplessly. "It looks like my only chance of getting out of this mess is by siding with you."

"I thought you might say that," Tommy replied with a faint grin. "We might be biased, but at least ours is truthful enough for you to get a decent idea of things. Now then, I have a few questions I need answered. Your friends..." he hesitated then continued, "Don't take offence at this, but can they talk? I mean.. they're not human, but they're not like anything I've ever seen before, so do they speak our language?"

"Of course they do, how else could I be friends with them?"

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it. In that case, we have to assume that the zombies will sooner or later learn about you from them, whether they tell them willingly or are forced to. That means you can't use your own name, and you can't go around wearing those clothes, they'd give you away. You look about the same size as Roxas was, so for now you can borrow the clothes he had when he was with us, we'll get you some of your own later."

"What am I gonna do with these then?" Sora asked, plucking at his shirt.

"We'll put them in one of our stashes so they're safe. Don't worry, we never lose anything without doing it intentionally. I'll explain the rest of what you need to know as we go along, but first we need to find you a name you can use here."


	3. Stink? Who Stinks?

**A/N:** Thank you all for the many suggestions! It wasn't an easy choice to make between them, there were so many I wanted to use. But I had to pick one, and this one was given to us by imademyfangirl - thank you!

Don't feel too bad about the rest of the names though - there's still plenty of other people who might, could and will show up that have yet to be named.

And now, our tale continues - read on!

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><p>Tommy briefly left Sora in the room to call for the other two boys that made up his gang, Whisper, the one who he'd seen when he'd woken up, and another boy he somehow recognised instantly as Sparky.<p>

"Alright boys," Tommy told them. "We need a name for our new friend here."

"Don't I get any say in it?" Sora asked.

"Trust us," Tommy replied. "We won't give you a silly name."

"Why us?" Sparky complained. "It's not like I'm any good with coming up with them."

"Because I gave Roxas his name, and now it's your turn."

Whisper gave him Sora penetrating look for a few moments, then asked, "You're like Roxas yourself, right?"

"He's my Nobody," Sora shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"He mentioned some people he worked for. Do you work for them too?"

"The Organization? Never. Besides, they're not even around any more."

"So what do you do?"

Sora thought for a moment. "Fight Heartless. Stop them ruining other worlds and things."

"Where are you going with this, Whisper?" Tommy asked the other boy.

"Gotta have something to base name off," Whisper shrugged. "These Heartless. What're they like?"

"Annoying," Sora muttered. "Deal with them in one place and they pop up in another. Appear out of nowhere, and once you deal with them they disappear again."

"Like a ghost?" Sparky suggested. "We haven't anyone called Ghost for a while."

Tommy shook his head though, "There's a reason for that. Everyone who gets named Ghost has inexplicably disappeared. No one knows why or how."

"Who says it's gonna happen to me too?" Sora demanded.

"Better not to take the chance."

"Shade then?" Whisper suggested. "It's similar. Also describes what we're like – there one minute, gone the next."

"Shade," Sora repeated, trying it out. "I like it."

"Hope you'll be able to get used to it as quick as Roxas did," Tommy said. "Someone go grab his old stuff from the stash upstairs, Shade can nick them until we get him some of his own."

"Might be able to do that today, boss," Whisper said as Sparky left. "Probably best too as well. Remember my old mate up in the West side mall?"

"How could I forget, he's the one who got us all such good gear. What about him?"

"The shop what he's been sponging off is going under, so he's doing a sale of his own before he has to skip out and find somewhere else to set up shop. We'll be able to nick almost anything from the store and they won't even care 'cause it's all on clearance."

"Nick," Sora said flatly. "You mean like... steal."

"How else?" Whisper shrugged. "Lotta places if we're seen, the old zombies or the coppers will just nick is right there on the spot. Doesn't give us much of a chance to buy stuff y'know?"

"And the three of us are kinda well known thanks to the boss and Roxas," Sparky added, returning from another nearby room with a bundle of clothes. "The old Inspector hasn't let up trying to find us so she can get her hands on him."

"Don't remind me," Tommy sighed. "I don't even know how we managed to get out of the last run in with her. You go on ahead and let your friend know we're coming," he told Whisper. "You get changed. I'm sure Roxas won't mind you borrowing them off him for now. We'll hide what you've got on now in the stash upstairs, then we'll head out."

"Mind if I go find Allie again?" Sparky asked, all three of his new friends leaving the room.

"What have you been up to this time?" Tommy asked him resignedly before leaving earshot.

Sora regarded the clothes Sparky had left him for a few moments before he finally started to change, noticing they were almost identical to Whisper's except for the size, that and the pants were green instead of Whisper's white. There seemed to be no end of pockets to hide things in, and most of the pockets were fairly well hidden too.

'Steal' didn't sit well with him though. Maybe Tommy was right, and he didn't have much of an idea of the way thing were here even after his long-winded introduction to the mess he'd crash-landed into, but it didn't make it any easier to accept. It left him wondering what Roxas had gotten up to during his time with Tommy's small gang.

He hesitated once he'd changed, picking up the untidy bundle of his own clothes as he wondered where exactly their stash was. Whether to try and find it himself or to find Sparky or Tommy instead?

Since he wasn't even sure of the layout of this place or for that matter where this place was exactly, he chanced it and decided to explore it. Maybe he'd run across the stash along the way.

Outside the room he'd woken up in was a short corridor, a room opposite with a few sheets rolled out to serve as rudimentary beds. One set of stairs up, one set of stairs down, and voices from below. Sparky and Tommy probably.

Sora went up first, only to find at the top of the creaky stairs was a skylight that could be pushed open for rooftop access. He could see through the top of it he was definitely in a city, probably the one he'd crashed into. It looked like the early hours of the day, with a thin filmy rain hissing down, clearly visible against the many lights and neon signs deeper into the city. The many towers and skyscrapers coupled with the dank grey smog further up made it look almost like the city was clawing at the sky – what little of it could be seen amidst the darker grey clouds.

He shook his head to himself, already getting a feeling that things were going to be harder than they looked at first glance, then turned on the steep steps to head down again, almost missing his step. The hand he put out sharply to steady him opened a small compartment hidden in the wall – completely invisible unless you knew it was there.

"Oh, you found it already," Sparky's voice came from the foot of the stairs. "We thought you'd ask instead."

"I didn't want to bother you," Sora replied, closing the compartment again afterwards. "You know it's raining out there."

"Whisper dropped back in a few moments ago to let us know. The smog isn't green, so we'll be alright this time. C'mon, we better get moving. Tommy says he'll swing past where we found you along the way."

"Maybe those zombies haven't taken anything of mine yet," Sora said hopefully.

"Don't bet on it. You were out for two whole days. Even had old doc Kildare drop in and check up on you, and he don't do house calls normally.

"Doesn't," Sora corrected absently.

"Whatever," Sparky brushed it aside.

Downstairs looked as if it had once been some kind of takeaway, a kitchen tucked away mostly intact and looking oddly clean given the slight disrepair the rest of the place had, especially since everything else seemed to have been stripped out of it.

Just beyond was the remains of a counter looking out over an empty floor, more whited out windows and a sturdy, if boarded up, door. Tommy had it just slightly open, sticking his head out to see the street outside.

"Don't get excited boss, it's just us," Sparky said when they got close. "We're ready when you are."

Tommy leaned in, looked Sora over, then nodded and fully opened the door for them.

"Head left," he told them. "It's all clear for the moment."

"What about you?" Sora asked curiously.

"Gotta lock up," he replied. "Place hasn't been used – except by us – for ages, so no one's meant to have access to it. It got broken down a while back, but we had it repaired with a new lock. The zombies know we use it from time to time, but after we stopped going near it for a time, they broke off their watch on it. Left again," he added as they reached the end of the short street. "Your little craft stopped a couple of blocks over. You'll see the damage it did on the way in, unless they've repaired it lately."

"They hadn't when I went to get some stuff yesterday," Sparky supplied. "But we kinda aren't far from the combat zone."

"Combat zone?" Sora asked warily.

"Yeah, it's a part of the city what no one goes to any more. Well, no one sensible. The police won't answer a call there, Corporate Security will only show up in massive numbers, and anyone who is there is either looking for a fight, or a fight will look for them."

"It's also the home of the Black Guard," Tommy continued for Sparky. "Not to mention the Guardians and a few other gangs too. Violent as the place is, it's also perfect for us because they won't bother us there."

"You keep mentioning the Black Guard," Sora noted. "Are they more important or something?"

"Hardly. They're the biggest gang in the Alliance, that's for sure, but they never forget the rest of us. Latissa owes me a favour, once we've got you something decent for you to wear, we'll take you down to see what they're like."

"Don't drag me along," Sparky said with a shudder. "No offence to 'em, but they give me the creeps. Let 'em stick to themselves."

"I must be the only one besides Calix and Roxas who doesn't mind them," Tommy muttered. "And I'm not sure about Roxas either. He did sort of fall foul of an older agreement I had with Latissa, and I recall he wasn't entirely happy about it." Tommy sighed then went on, "I miss those times. Helping Roxas made everything seem more alive somehow."

Sora almost said something, but a strong and not entirely pleasant scent made him wrinkle his nose.

"What _is_ that stink?"

"What stink?" Sparky asked, then sniffed, coughed and said, "Oh. That stink."

"Stink?" a new voice said from an alleyway ahead. "I don't stink fer nuffing," it said. It sounded almost like someone walking on gravel.

"Ah," Tommy murmured. "Your first meeting with someone outside our gang, Shade," he said to Sora. "A Squat."

"And I bet you regret it already," Sparky muttered.

"You're just used to it," Tommy called ahead. "And we're not."

"Who's 'at?" the gravelly voice said sharply. A figure hunched over emerged from the alley, intensifying the smell tenfold. It was hard to tell much about them except that they were covered in what looked like whatever clothes they'd found, without any care for their condition. Most of them had rips and tears in, and all of them were as dirty as the visible face and hand, which held a short knife.

"Hold, friend," Tommy told the apparition. "We are the Golden Lions."

"And a lot cleaner than he is," Sparky whispered to Sora.

"Whatcha doin' here?" the figure demanded roughly.

"We're just passing through," Tommy replied. "Headed up to the West side mall. You might have seen another of my boys pass through, Whisper."

"Whisper?" it repeated the hand vanishing into the tangle of clothes to hide the blade, coming out again looking no better than it before. "Yeah, saw him. Gone up past the cracky street." It gave a short harsh laugh, then, "Hope he's good. Tons of zombies crawling a block over."

"Any idea what they were talking about?"

"What's it worth to ya?" the Squat answered, starting back into the alleyway. Curiously, Sora moved to watch him from a less fragrant view. The alley had a number of trash-filled bags and dumpsters in, most of them held closed with a heavy looking padlock. As he watched, the Squat somehow produced a crowbar from the myriad of dirt and clothes, wedged it underneath the lid of a dumpster, then jumped up as he took hold, bringing his full weight down on it. The plastic lid of the bin snapped away from the lock with a loud crack.

"Don't ever ask them for something to eat," Sparky whispered to him. "Information, sometimes something they mighta scrounged, but never something to eat."

"Why, what's wrong with..." Sora broke off, eyes widening as he saw why. The Squat had pulled something out of the bin and had started to eat it even as he continued to talk with Tommy, just out of their earshot now. "How can... I mean it's all..."

"Yeah, that's why I warned ya. Try not to chuck up now, will ya?"

"I _was_ hungry, but after that..."

"Guessing you ain't gonna be considering them over us anytime soon then."

"Can you blame me?" Sora answered.

Sparky squinted over at the Squat for a moment then said, "No, guess I can't at that. They're useful though. They hear all kinda things, and as they say, you'd be amazed at what they throw out. Looks like the boss has come to an agreement," he noted, as Tommy and the Squat shook hands, making Sora cringe back.

"He _is_ going to wash that hand, isn't he?"

"Tommy? Sure he is. Though he's kinda alright with Squats, he had to hide out with a pack of 'em once. What did you find out?" he asked Tommy, who'd come over to join them.

"Just confirmation of my suspicions. The zombies were on the scene almost as soon as we got you out of there. Two hours later, the only sign of anything is what he called the cracky street. You really ripped up a lot of tarmac on your way in, you know."

"It wasn't entirely my idea," Sora replied defensively. "Some place called Crystal Palace didn't like us, so I decided to turn around and find another way... except they came after us, and the only way to escape them was to come down. I might have come down a bit too quick though."

"I had noticed that," Tommy murmured. "The Oracle was with us when we watched you come in."

"Who is this Oracle of yours?" Sora asked then. "You keep mentioning him, but I never actually got to ask."

Tommy shared a look with Sparky then answered, "You'll meet him in a couple of days. You can ask him yourself."

As they set off again, Sparky tugged at Tommy's jacket. "Problem with that plan," he told Tommy. "Didn't the Oracle tell us to give him two days, 'cause after that he'd be out of town?"

"Yes, why?"

"How long did it take for Shade to wake up?"

They walked on in silence for a time before he finally replied, "He told us Assault would still be here. No doubt the Oracle will have let him know what to do in case this happened. Unless he already knew and took it into account. We'll find out in two days. Here's your 'cracky street' by the way," he added to Sora.

Sora could see how it had been given the name. There was a deep gouge that stretched on out of sight and probably out of the city too, the edges of which were a mass of interweaving cracks. There was a build up of pieces of street where the Gummi ship had evidently finally stopped moving, some of it shifted into piles on either side of the street, probably when these zombies had taken it away. He also noticed that one or two buildings down the street had suffered slightly, but it was nothing compared to the damage he'd done to the street itself.

Sora looked it over, then lightly said, "Just a little bit of damage. Hardly all that much trouble for them, surely."

Tommy gave him a look. "Is that the first thing you people get taught or something? Make light of everything?"

"Why, what did Roxas do that he made light of?"

"Someone taught him to drive while he was spending a bit of time with the Black Guard. He's become somewhat of a legend among them, in part for a dealing with the Inspector, but also because he's more of a terror on the roads than their Old Tom is. All he ever said about it was, 'Wasn't it fun?'."

"Well, wasn't it?" Sora asked innocently.

Tommy threw up his arms and said, "Why me?" Sparky just burst out laughing.


	4. Shopping Spree

Though not used to the city yet, Sora kept a cautious lookout as they passed through, taking in the city, finding landmarks to navigate by, and generally making a pest of himself whenever he found something to ask about.

So far along the way they'd left Chinatown, a part of the town that reminded him of the Land of Dragons, through several run-down looking blocks of apartments, and into what seemed to be a commercial heart of the city.

Around a massive central mall there were warehouses, stores for large merchandise, heavy machinery and other similar things for hire, showrooms – if it could be sold, there was something selling it either inside or out.

Naturally with such a thorough collection of services, the whole place was swarming even at this early hour with people. Some few security guards could be spotted among the throng, but there were too few of them to be of any use except as a signpost.

"They don't bother us so much outside here," Tommy told him. "It's too busy for their liking. Once we get inside the mall or any of the other places around here though, we always have to watch ourselves."

"Not even those security guards," Sora asked, gesturing to one.

"Those rent a cops?" Tommy snorted derisively. "Just forget about them. They're not on our level by a long shot."

"Neither are the normal coppers," Sparky added. "But they're even worse. Their sole purpose is to stand there and look stupid."

"A hat rack could do that," Sora replied critically. "Probably better than they can too."

"I was wrong about you, Shade," Tommy called back over the crowd. He kept hold of Sora's hand, Sparky trailing behind on Sora's own, so they didn't get separated. "I thought it'd be longer before you started to sound like us, but that kind of remark makes you sound like you've been one of us for longer."

"Maybe I'm just picking up on Roxas," he shrugged. "Sometimes he does shine through a bit."

"Shoulda heard what he told one Corporate Security guy," Sparky laughed. "We heard it from Calix later on, the two looked like someone had just slapped them in the face he told us."

"Alright, Focus people," Tommy told them, pulling them into the marginally quieter bustle of the mall complex. Massive would have been an understatement. An arched dome tiled triangles of glass over the entire area, displaying the murky weather outside at a distance far enough away that the only sound of it was coming from the throng outside.

There were three floors immediately visible, and through the neatly arranged squares of stores it was possible to see that further in there were at least six, if not more. Music may have been playing, or adverts blared out, but the noise of so many people and stores drowned it out entirely.

The floor may once have been made of bright white tiles, but the thousands of feet that passed through had left them a dull grey, chipped and worn away to expose whatever black foundation material was underneath. Only around the ornate fountains at every junction did it start to return to the white it may once have been.

"Been a while since I was here last," Sparky breathed, absently running a hand through his shocked-looking hair.

"Like I said, focus," Tommy told him. "Keep your mind on the task at hand. We want to reach the Lo-Max clothing store. Fourth floor, eastern side of the mall. Try not to get separated."

"But boss..." Sparky trailed off, looking almost longingly toward an electronics store.

"If you want something, you pay for it yourself," Tommy told him bluntly. "I'm not getting the rest of us in trouble over something pointless again."

Sparky sighed, but tore himself away to follow after Sora and Tommy.

"Does he do that often?" Sora asked Tommy.

"He came from an old Mech gang," Tommy explained. "We were good friends before, so when they disbanded he joined me. Mech's in general are hard to pull away from any kind of tech. Give them a box or two of spare parts and two hours, and they'll build you something useful out of it." He laughed then went on, "Of course, most of those things are usually unreliable and more often than not held together with duct tape alone, but you'd be amazed at what they can knock up sometimes. Focus, Sparky!" he threw back over his shoulder as they passed another store.

"Not interested in that one anyway," Sparky called back. "It's one of _those_ stores," he said distastefully.

"Those stores?" Sora wondered aloud.

Tommy glanced in momentarily before flicking back to the crowd in front. Sora noticed his eyes never seemed to stop moving, as if he was trying to see everything.

"Cybernetics," he replied shortly. "They were originally designed to be better than prosthetics for people who'd lost limbs. Capable of perfectly mimicking the real thing. Except some money-hungry ass decided to expand and improve on the business. Now you can get some of the most ridiculous things in those places. The Alliance won't touch them without a very good reason though. My mentor when I first got involved was very clear on that."

"What set the Alliance against them?"

"Two things. Well, three depending on who you ask," Sparky corrected himself. "One, they're gross. Sticking bits of technology in your body, it's not right. Two, the adults are all over them, so naturally we don't want any part of it. And three, anyone what gets even the smallest thing stuck in – legally, anyway – has to be registered and tracked."

"Oh. That would kinda be a pain, wouldn't it?"

"Ven had another reason to dislike them," Tommy added darkly. "He went out of his way to make sure the Alliance never went near them without an exceptional reason. He was well known for it."

"Your mentor?" Sora asked.

Tommy nodded, "His real name was Rocky, or so he told us. He looked identical to your Nobody, which was why I chose to give him the name Rocky. Honouring the memory of my late mentor, in a way. He did the name proud."

"What happened to him?"

"Ven? I never found out. He just disappeared one day. Rumour has it his parents caught up with him – they were the main reason he was so forcefully against cybernetics in all their many forms. He used to go on a rant every now and then about them, and if even half of what he said is true, no one can blame him. We go up here," he added absently, taking them up an escalator.

"I saw some elevators back there," Sora pointed out.

"Never use 'em," Sparky told him. "You never know what'll be waiting for you when the doors open, and they're monitored anyway. Open invitations to handing yourself over."

"I guess that makes sense. It's a kinda nervous life like this, isn't it?"

"Fun though," Sparky replied. "Watch out – I spot zombies, two of the clock.," he added. Both of them looked over to see. They stuck out easily, being the only people around dressed in suits, apparently in conversation with each other. They stood in such a way that each of them could see behind the one opposite, leaving no angle unseen.

"Lawyers," Tommy spat. "You can tell, they have ties on. I preferred it when they still fought with briefcases and paper."

"It doesn't look like they've spotted us yet," Sora murmured, as though he could be heard by them through the people that were between them, coming in and out of the three stores nearby. He noticed the lawyers were carefully avoided though.

"Emphasis on yet," Tommy muttered darkly, looking surreptitiously around. "And there's no other way we can go from here except to the elevators. They'd notice if we suddenly headed back down again."

"Need a hand?" a voice said from below. A dark, tousle haired boy wearing a red shirt and jeans was grinning up at them. "I can get 'em outta your way. For a fee, naturally."

"Calix," Tommy said reprovingly.

"I'm kidding ya," Calix laughed. "Leave it to me. I'll have 'em off your task in no time."

"Be careful," Tommy called after him. Calix turned, smirked, winked, then was lost in the crowds. "We wait here," Tommy told the rest of them, stepping clear of the escalator, watching the lawyers.

Sora heard what happened next clearly.

"So, ya think you're all big now you've been let outta the courtroom, d'ya?" Calix's voice came to them. The four lawyers broke off their conversation, looking around more carefully now. It was hard to see through the crowds, but Calix must have found somewhere among them to hide. "I don't reckon you're any better now than ya were before," he went on. "You're just a bunch of pen-pushers that slipped out from behind their desks. Down here, ya morons," he added. Two of the lawyers were suddenly jerked downwards, apparently by their ties. The other two turned at the startled outcry one of them made, then looked down. "Catch me if you can," Calix taunted them smugly, then Sora spotted him through the crowds as he made a run for it.

"Stop him!" one of the lawyers called out as he ran after him.

"Don't let him get away!" another added. The remaining two looked at each other, shrugged, then pursued without a word.

"Will he be alright? Calix I mean." Sora said.

"He'll be fine," Tommy chuckled. "I've never once known him to get caught yet. Lets get moving again. Whisper is probably waiting for us by now."

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in King City, there were minds plotting. Or at least one mind, anyway. The others were bringing him information as always. He sat waiting, out of place among the neatly suited agents in his white. Not a single adornment or piece of jewellery on him, just simple white clothing. There weren't even any pockets on them.<p>

Another agent entered the conference room.

"What did you learn?" he asked the newcomer.

"They're quite attached to a boy they call Sora, sir," the agent replied, taking a seat opposite him. "I provided the fiction that we have him receiving medical attention, though they persisted in wanting to see him. I was able to dissuade them though."

"What else?" he prompted.

"They call their craft a 'Gummi Ship'. I contacted your bodyguard on Crystal Palace for some details of it before it was shot down. The materials used to construct it are completely alien to us, sir. Apparently even they aren't aware of the mechanics of it."

"Inconvenient," he murmured. "Can it be utilized?"

"Sir, we don't even know how to repair it yet, let alone how it works. There are some few displays in there, but they don't respond to us. Whoever made that ship took pains to make it difficult to figure out."

"Perhaps this Sora will know. Bring him to me."

"We don't know what happened to him when their ship crashed. He wasn't with them when we arrived."

He sat in silence thinking for a few moments before he answered.

"The so-called Alliance probably has him then. Find him. Find Sora and bring him to me. Make sure he is aware that he has nothing to fear from me. He need merely cooperate with us, and we will find his cause and appeal to it... while it suits us to."

"You're going through with this then?" a voice came from a speaker inlaid into the table before him.

"You hold reservations, Tamayana?" he queried the voice.

"This craft and the people with it are the first the Crystal Palace project has ever picked up. Who knows how many others could be following?"

"But perhaps he is only one. Even so, from your report of their combat abilities, I hardly think we have any concern. However," he looked up to the agent who had brought him the news. "You will return to these two creatures and find their purpose here. Persist until you have discovered the truth behind it without a doubt."

"And me?" Tamayana's voice crackled through the speaker. "I'll continue to monitor the readings Crystal Palace gives me Akira, but if there's more of them..."

"Patience, old friend," Akira replied with a smile. "My instincts tell me these three are alone. And if they are alone, there will be none to follow them. They may yet hold the key to ridding myself of that accursed Oracle."


	5. The Inspector Calls

The Lo-Max store they'd been searching for was not, in fact, one store – rather it seemed to occupy four separate stores next door to each other on the far easternmost side of the floor, with the space above it being given over to stockrooms, offices and other administrative parts of the stores. The stores signs all proclaimed their explanation of the name – 'Lo Cost, Max Style!' in failing neon lighting. It wasn't the only sign of its decline either, with several cracked windows either boarded over or patched up, various signs and displays in various states of disrepair, and no sign of any air conditioning working. The place was noticeably warmer than the rest of the mall had been for it.

"Sparky, find Whisper," Tommy murmured as the entered. "Keep a lookout too. If Whisper's right, they could be going into administration, and you know what that means."

Sparky grimaced, "Beancounters. The only other thing worse than a zombie besides a lawyer."

"That bad, huh?" Sora remarked.

"Beancounters here aren't your average accountants," Tommy replied. "Think of bloodhounds, but instead of following a scent they follow money trails with uncanny accuracy. If you see something you like, grab it on your way through. Whisper will handle the rest."

"You're gonna have to watch what I pick though," Sora warned. "I mean I saw people on the way here, but..."

"You don't know what'll attract attention and what won't, I know. Just don't worry about a shirt, Whisper will be solving that for you."

"Don't I even get to pick what colour?" he asked, idly flicking through a rack of tops, jackets and hoodies that were, if the smudged writing on the sign was right, only a quarter of their marked price. "They must be getting desperate to clear stuff out if they're going at that kind of price," he remarked absently.

"Who knows why retailers price anything the way they do?" Tommy chuckled. "And no, but Whisper's a fair judge, chances are he'll pick something that'll work for you. Personally I think he'll work from what you were wearing when we found you and go with blue."

Sora pulled a hoodie off the rack and held it up against him. It was mostly white, but with a black keyhole design on the front and back. "About the right size, and it's kinda perfect, wouldn't you think?"

"What gives you that idea?" Tommy asked, looking amused. "Going around locking keyholes?"

Sora looked startled, "How did you guess?"

"I got lucky. Besides, on Roxas's last day here, he went with a few others to a door we've never been able to get through, only to find it was the door to this world's heart. Or at least, that's what the Oracle told us after Roxas left. I figured if he could do it, so can you."

"Someday you're gonna have to tell me what else he got up to," Sora remarked, keeping hold of the hoodie as he continued to look through. "I never did find out, and it's not like he tells me anything."

"You can talk with him?"

"I wouldn't say talk. We've exchanged a few words once, maybe twice before, but that was it."

"Interesting, at least. He told me-" Tommy broke off sharply. Sora turned to look, but Tommy quickly turned him back. "Keep moving," he hissed in a low tone. "The Inspector just walked in. We'll have to hope she's either not on our trail, or we can meet up with Sparky and Whisper before she finds us, and I don't fancy my chances on the first one."

"Only one inspector in all of the city or something?" Sora wondered quietly.

"Not that. She's called the Inspector because she's the only one who ever stood up to the Alliance and the backlash other inspectors get when they try and mess with us, and word is she has a grudge against your Nobody."

"Why, what did he do?"

"We don't have time for that! Here, take this and head toward the changing rooms," Tommy told him, handing a pair of jeans that he must have only guessed would fit. Sora glanced at them briefly, noting that either the store was a bit lax on checking the state of the clothes, or it was meant to look well worn and even torn in a few places.

He continued on, noticing in passing that Tommy had taken a different route to him, probably in the hopes of dividing the Inspector's attention. Despite Tommy's warning he paused at a stand of various shoes and made some show of looking through them while surreptitiously looking for the Inspector.

It wasn't hard to pick her out, being the only woman among the entourage of suited agents that seemed to tower over her. Even then she would have stood out with her smouldering grey eyes harshly surveying the area, occasionally brushing the auburn hair out of her way. Her expression looked so frosty it would probably have put an arctic winter to shame.

Tommy noticed his pause and tried to suggest he keep moving before ducking down out of sight again, leaving Sora to pick a pair of trainers from the shelf without bothering to check the size, hoping he'd got them right. They reminded him of his own shoes, yellow-lined but grey instead of black.

"The boy over there," he heard a voice he suspected belonged to the Inspector call out. He didn't turn to find out who she'd meant, he just kept moving toward the dead lighting that should have marked where the changing rooms were, pickings his way between shelves and displays without even looking at them.

Tommy made it there before he did, quickly slipping out of sight. Sora followed suit, turning down one of the narrow corridors with the simple doors of the rooms themselves, all easily locked from the inside, but also only made of a thin, light material that would surely not withstand any attempt to force it.

"Shade!" Whisper's voice called from ahead of him. "Quickly, over here!" Sora finally spotted his head poking out of one of the rooms, hurrying to him.

"We can't hide in one of these, surely."

"We're not going to," Whisper told him, pulling him into the room and locking the door behind him. Behind where the door had been concealing, the wall panel had been taken off to reveal a narrow access corridor. "Through there, and be quick, I've got to have enough time to put this back after us."

He didn't waste any time squeezing in, with barely enough room to walk even sideways, and then at a crouch for the low ceiling here. The various items he'd taken from the store were rolled up around the trainers he'd picked out so he could carry them more conveniently, but it hardly made it much easier to progress.

"Find him!" the Inspector's voice commanded, muffled through the wall behind him. "He has to be in one of these rooms."

"Wanna bet, ice lady?" Whisper whispered with a nasty grin, pulling the wall section back into place before following after Sora. The banging sound of the changing room doors being forced open started to echo through to them. "Take a right up ahead," Whisper told him.

"I'm already going right," Sora replied as the area narrowed further.

"You know what I mean. Tommy's ahead of us, and Sparky's with my friend waiting for us. Keep moving! If they bring sniffer dogs in here they'll find us in no time!"

Sora turned the corner as he felt it beside him, breathing a sigh of relief when the minimal light showed enough room to walk normally, if still crouched slightly. It let him move faster at least, until he reached another area where a section of wall was conspicuously missing, leaving an exit into a dimly lit room that looked like an office. Tommy and Sparky were already there, along with a blond haired girl in a store uniform.

"About time you got back," she told Whisper as he set the wall back in place again. "I was starting to wonder if the Inspector hadn't caught you."

"C'mon, me?" Whisper snorted. "Get real. Shade, hand over whatcha got, she'll take off the security tags for you. Did you get the shirt?"

"Skaz is seeing to it," she replied, taking the bundle off Sora. "He's dependable in a pinch, and he knows your design off by heart now. I sent Root out to restock the shop floor with what little stock we've got left, and to keep an eye on frosty back there too."

"Not Bard?" Whisper asked.

The girl shook her head, "Not a chance. She and Raf are helping out over in one of the malls on east side, scouting them out to see if we can make a killing there when this place busts. We were gonna stay here, but the beancounters are on a trail that might lead to us, so Skaz, Root and I are the only ones left."

"One of the reasons I never got around to joining one of the mall-based gangs," Tommy mused. "The constant threat of the beancounters. I honestly don't know how you put up with it, Tasha."

"You get used to it," she shrugged, handing Sora back the clothes. "Once Skaz gets back with your shirt, go with him," she told Sora. "He'll lead you to the changing rooms of a different part of the store, hopefully she ain't watching them. I'll arrange to get Tommy out another one near to you so you can change in peace and have a lookout in case there's trouble when you leave. I'll take Sparky and Whisper to the two parts of the store opposite these two myself."

"How d'ya plan to do that?" Sparky asked. "They're not even connected to these two."

"That's what they want ya to believe," Tasha smirked. "But do you think they bother to check the blueprints for this place to find out? Or to find out that a few little rooms that weren't on the original plans have mysteriously appeared? The real staff of this place don't even know my little operation even exists – the mark of a good Mallbrat gang."

"And Tasha's is the best," Whisper remarked, putting an arm around her to hold her close.

"Hey, c'mon, let go of me," Tasha laughed. "What if Skaz saw us?"

"Ah, who cares, he's sensible enough," Whisper brushed it aside.

"Someone say m'name?" a slightly slurred voice asked, followed by the speaker himself. Skaz had a thick shock of bleached blond hair that seemed to perpetually threaten to cover his face. His vague look and slurred voice belied the clarity in his eyes though, making Sora sure it was just an act.

Tasha and Whisper shared a look with each other, then just burst out laughing.

"So long as y' don't damage me goods," Skaz shrugged. "You the guy who wanted a new shirt?" he asked Sora. "Done it in blue 'cause it's all I had left."

"Told you so," Tommy grinned as Sora took it off him. It was identical to the one he was already wearing, except as Skaz had said, in blue. The lion's head on it was in the same golden stitching though.

"You guys gonna stand round all day or gonna come with me?" Skaz slurred. "I got work to be doing too y'know. Oh, by the way," he added. "Heard off Root on the way back. Says frosty is still up where they came in, but her goons are tracking through the others."

"You'll all have to be careful when you leave then," Tasha warned. "Especially you, Shade. Either pull up the hood on your hoodie, or do something about your hairstyle. If it's you they want, they'll recognise it easily."

"Roxas suffered from the same problem, as I recall," Tommy mused. "Not that I ever had the chance to tell him, but he was adamantly against doing anything with his hair. Come on then – lead the way Skaz, and we'll show up the Inspector for the incompetent she is once again."

"Ain't gonna get no argument offa me there," Skaz laughed roughly. "Move quick and keep up."

Sora quickly grabbed a bag on the way out. "For what I'm wearing," he explained, then headed out after Skaz and Tommy into what appeared to be a locker room – through a locker that Skaz quickly locked behind him.

"Ain't the best concealed entry," he apologized for it. "But it were the best we could do when they decided to change up this part of their offices. Keep calm'n look like ya belong," he told them shortly, then headed out.

Beyond was a series of doors leading either into offices or conference rooms, most of which empty. Sora spotted one clock telling the time to be nearly 7am, which explained most of the reason why.

"Start work early, don't you?" he asked.

"And finish late too," Skaz replied. "But late evening and early morning is the best time for us. Ain't got all the real staff underfoot and don't gotta suck up to 'em. Bunch of money grubbers," he spat. "Don't pay me nearly as much as the law says they oughta, and pass it off as budget cuts. If them beancounters find out they ain't gonna make it out."

"That's why you're all planning to leave, isn't it?"

"Better leaving on our terms than found out on theirs. We go through here and into the storeroom that backs onto the changing rooms," he told them. "I'll get your boss out in the middle someplace so he can lookout, and you down near t'end."

"Knock on the door when you're done," Tommy said to Sora. "I'll whistle if it's clear. I'd take Tasha's advice too, your hair is definitely doing to make you stand out in these parts."

Sora muttered a few complaints to himself, but realized there wasn't much choice so didn't make an issue of it.

Like Whisper had, Skaz shifted aside wall panels to access the here even narrower empty space between the changing rooms and the storeroom, listening at the opposing wall panel for a moment before shifting the first one back.

"Someone in there," he muttered, then moved down two panels and repeated. This time he shifted the second panel aside slightly, peered out, then moved it further. "After you," he gestured to Tommy.

"Thanks for this Skaz. If you ever need a hand, feel free to call on us."

"I'll tell Tash," he said. "Can be she'll call it in, even if it's gotta be through me."

"I should have known," Tommy laughed, slipping through the gap and out. He gave Skaz a hand shifting the panel back in place, then Sora did the same for the first one.

"Should be only another few rooms between here'n the end if I got it right," he told Sora. "No one ever uses 'em, so they're perfect escape routes. 'course we always gotta have someone watching, and now there's only three of us here it ain't the easiest for us, but we shouldn't need it."

"Why not just clear out that office back there overnight and disappear?" Sora suggested.

"'cause we gotta tender our resignations too, and they take time to process. We still work for them who run the place, much as we hate it, but it's our cover story. We're just marginally old enough workers, that's all. This should be your stop," he said, shoving another panel out the way then listening. "Not a sound. Remember to lock the door first, just in case someone does wander down."

Sora just nodded, waiting for him to push the second panel aside before he stepped through, putting down the bundle yet again to help shift the panel back in place. As soon as it was there, he locked the door and changed for the second time today.


	6. Refreshment Assault

He had to admit, the change of clothes helped in more ways than he'd first thought. He felt somehow less like himself, and having seen how each of the others he'd met had acted he started to feel like he could fit in as if he'd been here the whole time. Having Roxas around probably lent some weight to that but there was no telling; Roxas was silent as always.

The clothes he'd borrowed were quickly stashed in the bag with an odd faint feeling of disapproval. Sora ignored it for a moment, then with an exasperated sigh and a few muttered comments to himself, took them out and folded them instead. The feeling went away with them.

"Whatever keeps you happy," Sora muttered, then knocked the door of the changing room and waited for a signal from Tommy.

It felt like ages before he finally heard the low whisper come back. "Make sure your hood is up and come on out quickly before the Inspector gets here."

A few more muttered complaints as he covered his distinctive hair, then he emerged again, quickly joining Tommy at the entrance to these changing rooms. He was stood with his back against one wall, peering around the corner.

"Nice look," he remarked with a quick glance. "The Inspector's got two of her goons here, and it just came over their radios that she's coming here next. Ideally, we need to get out of here before they realize we've left and meet up again."

"Will Sparky and Whisper know where to find us?"

"Don't worry about them, they can take care of themselves. I'm more concerned about you right now, you're not as experienced. With any luck, you'll be able to get most of the way out of here without a problem."

"What about you?"

"It won't be the first time I've chanced the Inspector, but I'm gambling she's mistaken you for Roxas. Now listen very carefully to me and pay attention. When you leave this store, you'll need to go down the right-hand side of the store opposite this one. Take the escalator there down two floors and find the café near there. There's several, but I'll check them all if you're not at the one I'm thinking of. I'll meet you down there once I've made sure you get away safely."

"What if I don't, or I'm stopped along the way?"

"Improvise," Tommy grinned. "Some of the best things the Alliance does are mostly improvised." Tommy took the bag off him, gave one last glance around the corner then nodded, "Go now. Don't worry about me – just don't draw attention to yourself."

Sora took him at his word, heading back out into the store. It was still part of the same store, but was clearly a different department. At least it hadn't been the babies or womanswear departments that were opposite he noticed absently, trying to act natural as he feigned passing interest in this or that gadget on display.

The presence of changing rooms in the gadgetry department wasn't clear at first, until he chanced a glance around and noticed a sign marking one part of the store to be for 'extreme gear'. If what he'd seen of this world was anything to go by, it meant surviving underwater or in the desert.

"You, boy," a voice demanded gruffly, roughly turning him around to look one of the Inspector's men in the face.

"The boy's gotta name you know," Sora told him. "Maybe people would talk to you more if you bothered to use 'em."

"Just answer the question."

"Would," he sniffed. "But you didn't ask me one."

The man stared at him for a moment, then tried to carry on anyway. "Just tell me if you've seen the boy I'm looking for. Don't be tiresome."

"Do I look I know that?" he replied, then with sudden inspiration added, "Did hear something about some boy people were asking about. Said he was down at some store down on the ground floor, looking into spare arms."

"Do I look stupid? What interest would one of you have in spare arms?"

"I dunno, maybe stealing them and selling them on or something? C'mon, what am I, the local gossip?"

"So that's where they're getting their supplies from," the man murmured to himself, though it wasn't clear what for. He reached for a radio though, telling it, "Four reporting in. No leads here on the case, but a possible tip for the arms case."

After a moment the Inspector's voice squawked back, "Forget the arms case! We are not on the arms case! Akira wants this boy taken into custody, not some backwater cybernetics thief supplying the black market! Now get back over here and question the staff before I dock your pay – again."

Sora felt a little sorry for the man after seeing him grumble unhappily away, but then remembered the Inspector would probably have been more thorough than he had. If she lived up to her reputation, it seemed unlikely that just covering his hair was going to stop her.

He made it out of the store without further incident though, spotting Tommy emerge from his concealment as he left the store behind. Now he just had to try not to get lost on the way to this café Tommy was going to find him at, which presented him with another problem. He had none of the local currency on him. Wouldn't café staff get a bit suspicious about someone who waited around without getting anything?

That problem was put aside, he decided he had to find the place first, and deal with any suspicions afterwards. At least the down escalator was easy to find, the mall's conveniently placed hanging signs always marked them.

Part way down, stuck between several more fragrant early morning shoppers, he spotted a commotion at the base of the escalator. Two lawyers were pushing through the crowds between this one and the next, apparently in a hurry. They seemed familiar to Sora somehow, but he couldn't place why until the familiar voice of Calix came from behind him at the top, "Whatcha bulling through them for? Want 'em to press charges for assault, or d'ya want to catch me instead?"

The two lawyers stopped dead, then one beckoned for the other two he'd seen earlier, while the second pointed up and once again shouted, "Don't let him get away!"

"That's my name!" Calix laughed. "Don't wear it out now!"

Sora concealed a smile as the lawyers ignored his first remark, now trying to push past other shoppers using the up escalator in their effort to reach him. Tommy had been right, there was no reason to worry about Calix. He might have been small, but he could clearly keep them occupied for ages.

Despite the disturbance he'd caused, the shoppers seemed mostly unconcerned as long as they weren't involved. Some few of them talked about Calix's suggestion of charges, but otherwise it seemed like normal, or what passed as it here, on the way down the to the next floor. He listened in, in case it gave him any more hints on what things were like here. There were comments about rebellious kids, an upcoming election and the strange craft that had crash-landed, but more talk seemed to be focused on two things: a recent and dramatic increase in crime, and, more commonly, ever rising prices.

"Don't get excited," a voice murmured to him. "I'm here on behalf of the Oracle. Name's Assault."

"I've heard of you," Sora replied, trying not to show any sign of the surreptitious conversation he was having. "Is the Oracle still in town?"

"No, that's why I'm here. You were meant to be seeing him today, but since you didn't... anyway, he left me instructions in case this happened. Where's Tommy?"

"Not sure. We managed to get out of the Lo-Max store upstairs after the Inspector paid a visit, but he gave me directions for somewhere to meet him."

"He didn't leave with you?"

"No, he said something about making sure I got away safely."

"That sounds like him alright. Stick with me," Assault told him. "And don't jump to conclusions, nothing personal meant," he added. Sora almost asked what, then felt a hand slip into one of the pockets, leave something and was withdrawn again. Sora threw a questioning glance at the boy behind him when they stepped off the second escalator and clear of the main crowds.

"I stopped by someone on the way here," the oddly blue haired boy explained himself. "Got you some things you'll need if you plan to stick around here for too long. You owe me for what it cost to get it sorted mind," he added.

"Uh... thanks, I think. You're..."

"Assault. Like I said. Don't mistake me for my older brother, Battery. You can tell us apart easy, he doesn't know what a smile is. Now lets get down to things. Where did Tommy tell you to meet him?"

"He just said a café down here."

"Right. That only narrows it down to most of this part of the mall," Assault said sarcastically. "C'mon, we'll poke about and see if we can find the right one. I think I know which one Tommy usually frequents, but I don't normally come up this way."

"Assault... you know who I am, right?"

"Yeah, but it isn't safe to talk about it openly. You mighta gathered Akira's looking for you, and believe me if he's searching for you, you don't wanna be found – especially if the Inspector's on your case."

"Is she really that dangerous?"

"You've no idea," Assault answered, like Tommy scanning the area constantly. "You think the Alliance causes trouble, but she's worse than we are. 'course it's always presented in a way that makes us look like the bad guys, and she gets glorified as the most successful detective inspector in the city. She really don't like your Nobody by the way."

"So I've heard. Did you meet him?"

"Rocky? Sure. Several times. Why d'ya ask?"

"No one seems to have a few moments to tell me what he got up to, that's all. That, and everyone here seems to know what a Nobody is, let alone that I have one."

"Just the Alliance," Assault laughed. "Roxas trusted us with the knowledge. Some of us know a bit more than others, but the Oracle put his foot down and told us to keep it under wraps unless we needed to. Your old Nobody's name has picked up quite some clout in the Alliance though. You'll be able to throw it out there and all kinds of doors will open up within the Alliance. There," he said, breaking off. "That should be the place Tommy's thinking of."

"Assault, that's just a collection of benches around a fountain," Sora protested, following his look. "That could be tied to any, or even all of those cafés over there."

"I know," he grinned. "That way they'll either all ignore us because they think the others will serve us, or they'll all rush over in their hurry to nick our money, and we'll be given a nice choice of prices and options."

"You're not serious?"

"May mah tongue turn green iff'n I ain't," Assault replied, leading him to a table. "If you're curious, have a look at what I gave you. Make some show of looking for something if you don't want to attract too much attention."

He took the opportunity to do just that. It turned out to be a leather wallet, containing a number of things. Currency, in both coins and paper, a card that marked him as 'Dickens, Samael', a student at King City University and a second card that also had the same name on but nothing else, except for a chip embedded in the back.

"Government ID card," Assault explained, catching his curious look. "They stick that into a reader and it'll tell them all about you. Well," he amended quickly. "The you that I arranged for them to find out about, anyway."

"You mean this Samael? What's with that name?"

"Well you can't use your own one, and you need a more commonplace one if you're caught up. The kid who originally used that name got killed in a random skirmish down in the combat zone a few months back, good thing we found the body or it would have been recorded. A quick stop by a certain few people and I arranged for the records to be altered to show your face, among other things. Technically you've got a bank account with the inheritance your late family left you, but we haven't been able to get the pin number for it, so you can't have it. Not that we'd use it anyway – using a bank account would tag you at a certain place, and if they cotton on that you and Shade are the same person..."

"I'd be attracting attention I shouldn't do," Sora nodded, understanding. "You said I owe you for this. Couldn't you just..."

"The Alliance don't work on money remember," Assault sighed. "Favours are the main currency between us – that or something needed for something wanted." He looked up, then chuckled. "What did I tell you – look there, three of them coming over to us." Assault smirked briefly. "Watch and learn, Sammy."

"Sammy!" Sora objected, but said no more.

The three baristas were definitely all headed for them, and each of them seemed determined to get there before the other two, eyeing each other as they hurried over while at the same time trying not to make it obvious they'd noticed each other.

Assault waited until the three were practically elbowing each other aside, then leaned back in the chair and said, "About time."

"I'm sorry young master," the first of them apologized with a broad smile. "We didn't notice you out-ow!" The second elbowed her in the ribs.

"I apologize for our competitor elbowing in like this," she told him, also smiling. "They're forever trying to poach customers off our ground like this – ouch!"

The third had apparently stepped on her foot, "Your grounds?" he objected. "Last time I checked they were bought by our store manager, making them ours, which stands to reason since we clearly have the superior service."

"You?" the first snorted. "You don't even know how to make anything, it all comes in pre-packaged. We're the only ones here who get _all_ our ingredients fresh."

"You call that fresh? More like fresh when it arrived a week ago!" the second put in.

"Ladies, please," Assault interrupted, overlooking the third who was clearly not a lady. "Let's not bicker and argue with each other – it might give the impression that none of you are as professional as you really are."

"See?" the third one said brightly. "You two don't know what you're doing. Superior wins out again."

"I was talking to you too," Assault told him. The bright look fell immediately. "What we want..." he thought for a moment, then looked over at Sora. "What do you want? Did you make up your mind?"

"Hot chocolate," Sora replied, trying his best not to laugh in the faces of the baristas.

"A medium hot chocolate and an orange soda for me." He paused, then innocently added, "You do serve those, don't you?"

"Of course we do," the first one smiled again. "And they're made here on site with fresh ingredients _obtained today_," she added, glaring at the second.

"After a week spent in storage before they came here," the second sighed. "Whereas ours if you wish we can give you the full details of how long it took to get from farm to you."

"I don't think they want to know the life history of their breakfast, you know," the third barista said disapprovingly. "We of course do offer the very best you both request and at the most reasonable prices you'll find anywhere here. I think you'll agree that a nice round ten dollars is acceptable?"

"Ten? Daylight robbery," the second exclaimed. "We do it for seven, and with none of that pre-packed nonsense."

"Amateurs," the first sniffed. "Five, and you'll get better than either of these two incompetents can offer."

"Such choice," Assault murmured. "You do realize I'm going to have to disappoint two of you, you know." He thought for a moment more, then fished around in his pockets for a moment and pulled out a ten dollar bill. The eyes of the third lit up again at the sight of it, as Assault glanced to each of them, considering each of them. "Keep the rest as a tip," he told the second barista, tucking the bill into the notepad she held. She smirked at the other two, who seemed less than pleased, then bustled off.

"Perhaps we can offer something else to you?" one of them suggested hopefully. "Something to eat?"

"Thanks, but we ate already," Assault answered. "Thanks for offering though," he paused and added, "Is that another customer?" pointing to another nearby table. Both of them scurried off again.

"That was terrible," Sora laughed at last. "You even let them do most of it themselves."

"I know," Assault grinned. "I love doing that. Some of them on the other side of town recognise me, so I throw them off and change who I go with sometimes. You'd be amazed at how much of a discount they'll try and offer just to keep your patronage."


	7. Not in the Plan

Goofy, normally never one to sleep light, woke to the sound of movement from outside the apartment room he and Donald had been given. Donald's bed was empty, suggesting some hint who it was. With a slight sigh he pushed himself up and out, quietly slipping out of the room to find out what was going on.

Donald was pacing around, muttering to himself animatedly. Goofy just watched, leaning back on the closed door with a yawn. Donald hadn't noticed him yet.

"Receiving treatment," Donald said irritably. "It can't have been that bad. Why didn't he just get up and cast Cure or something."

"Something on your mind?" Goofy murmured as the little duck passed him.

"Of course there is! It's that, that, that _story_ we got told!"

"You think there's something wrong with it?"

"I don't like it. It doesn't sound right to me. Sora's never needed more than a little spell to get him back on his feet. What's with all this treatment they're on about? And then he tells us Sora got up, turned around and broke out! He's not telling us something, I'm sure of it."

Goofy said nothing. He shared his friend's opinions, but didn't see anything they could do about it, not while they were told they'd attract undue and unwanted attention here. They'd been called the first sentient nonhumans to visit them. No doubt more than a few people would take that the wrong way.

"I mean, look at it out there!" Donald burst out again, now staring out the window that gave a commanding view of King City in the smoggy, misty-rain filled morning. "What would he want out there? Bleak, uninviting place if you ask me."

"Maybe he caught something off Roxas?" Goofy suggested. "Something Roxas left unfinished here?"

"I don't buy it," Donald replied. "He said himself Roxas had barely said anything to him. For all we know, Roxas could be making Sora do something."

"You're contradicting yourself," another voice said, the familiar clipped voice of the oddly young man who was their only contact with this world so far, Kane. He'd been insistent it was spelled correctly when they'd first met and had managed to evade all questions so far about why someone so young was at work in Akira's tower, not even suited like most of the others who worked here.

He was an odd contrast to them, bearing a worn and patched grey shirt, the stitching of the design on the front missing in places but still clear enough to show a lion's head.

"First you say this Roxas says nothing to him, then you think he's forcing Sora's hand? The two don't go together, little friend," he went on. Little friend had become a pet name he had for Donald, though he'd yet to come up with a similar one for Goofy.

"I don't see _you_ coming up with a better solution," Donald retorted.

"Quite. But I'm only a messenger when it comes to the antics of your friend, I don't see these things myself. That said, Akira has asked me to request your assistance."

"In finding Sora?" Goofy asked. "But you said the people out there..."

"No, I regret he remains firm that you don't make yourself known here. We've been examining your craft, and I hate to admit it, but our engineers having the foggiest idea what makes it tick. We were going to repair it for you, but given the situation Akira feels you could assist us – a mutual agreement, if you will. You teach us about it, and we'll help you restore it."

"Better that, than sitting around here for days on end," Donald muttered.

* * *

><p>Sora meanwhile was getting impatient.<p>

"He'd be here by now, surely," he muttered.

"Patience, Sammy," Assault said. "Tommy's gang might be small, but it holds a lot of weight in the Alliance. My brother and I excepted, he has the closest relationship with the Oracle, and even I couldn't tell you the what or why of it."

"I don't like it though. What if something's happened to him?"

"That's why I'm here. You need someone experienced to handle things with you until you get the hang of it. Tommy will turn up, and if he doesn't then someone in the Alliance will know what's happened to him. We share news and information widely, and anything happening to him would be put out as soon as possible."

"And if no one saw it?" Sora persisted. "What then?"

"Relax. Tommy's not one to get caught easily. He knows how to get word if something comes up."

"How can you shrug it off so easily?"

"I grew up with all this," Assault laughed. "I'm used to it. You're right about one thing though... it's not like him to take this long without someone letting us know what's going on."

"I guess it just takes time," Sora said, leaning back in the chair. He'd started to pick up on Tommy and Assault's habit of keeping an eye on everything around, falling back on that again and almost causing the chair to fall back when he spotted someone familiar.

"Easy there," Assault murmured. "We're trying not to attract attention remember."

"I just saw the Inspector," he told Assault hurriedly. "I don't think she's seen us."

Assault did not turn around. "Where? Calm down and describe it, try not to be obvious."

"She just came out an elevator a bit beyond what I think is a music store. There's drums and stuff out front anyway. Looks like she's talking into something."

"Keep watching and look like you're talking to me," he advised. "Don't look over at her unless she gets out of your line of sight."

Sora just nodded, watching. Her entourage of agents was back with her, keeping close around her but not in front. It was clear they were acting as a guard as well.

"She's still talking," he told Assault. "Heading this way, but doesn't seem to have noticed us. One of the agents has seen me, I think, but he's not doing anything, probably the one that bothered me back in the store."

"Focus, Sammy. It's the Inspector that's the danger, not the agents."

"Right. Looks like she's turning down a side route between another clothing store and whatever was next to the music store." Sora looked closer, trying not to be obvious about it. "I think she's got someone with her. One of us, I can't tell for sure, they're too close. No, wait – they're turning the corner, there's a gap -" he broke off. "It's Tommy," he breathed. "I'm sure of it."

Assault didn't hesitate, he turned to look for himself, then nodded bleakly. "Damn. I hope he meant for that to happen. Looks like you're gonna have to stick with me a bit longer. I hadn't planned on it, but it doesn't look like there's a choice. Not unless you know where Whisper and Sparky have gone."

Sora shook his head, "He just said not to worry about them."

"Which is no help at all. We're going to have to move quickly, I've got things I need to do out around the city, you need someone to guide you still, and word has to be spread about Tommy. Come with me and don't hesitate, whatever you do," he told Sora with a faint hint of command to him, then got up and wordlessly led the way.

They went down a route parallel to the one the Inspector had taken, where another path linked the two occasionally checking her progress but otherwise paying her no attention. Once they turned off and down a separate route away from her, there seemed to be no logic to the directions.

"Keep your eyes open," Assault murmured to him. "This is unfamiliar territory for me, and with her on the prowl there's no telling what else might be lying in wait. If you spot something you think is suspicious, mention it."

"Where are you taking me, exactly?"

"For the moment, wherever I get taken. The Oracle leaves me messages and such to pass out, sometimes I get directions sometimes I don't. I go wherever they take me. First order of business though is to get word of Tommy's situation out."

He led the way over into a quieter corner of the mall that was more dimly lit, with no light from above reaching through for the stores above getting in the way. The corridors here were much narrower and the stores smaller and occasionally more disreputable looking. Other shoppers became a rarity, and those that were here kept to themselves, watching the oddly mismatched two pass with suspicion in their own eyes.

The store they eventually arrived at appeared at first glance to be a normal electronics store, but with items on the shelves that looked distinctly unlike the kind of things normally found there. Assault paid no attention to the merchandise however, picking his way through to the counter. Sora was surprised to find it was manned by a young woman with a hard, harsh expression, with everything she wore in black.

"Assault," she murmured in a dulcet tone. "It's been a while. Want to play some more?"

"I don't have time for this Sal," Assault answered. "The Inspector's captured Tommy. I don't know how or why just yet, it happened not long ago. I need you to get word to Latissa."

"Tommy? You mean-"

"Yes, you know exactly who I mean. This is important, I need it done." He paused, then added, "The Oracle also left me a message for you – 'Beware the traitor'. He didn't say which one, so don't ask me."

Sal looked troubled at this, but recovered quickly, "Anything else you need?"

Assault thought for a moment. "I'll need to know where a few of the other gangs are, but that can wait until I'm safely away from here."

"I'll talk with the boss then, see if I can get one of the Grey Wolves to meet you – if you're headed their way."

"Convenient. I can swing through and see Kildare right after. I think that's all."

"Are you sure you don't want to play?" Sal asked archly. "You or your friend?"

"I'm on business Sal, you know the Oracle doesn't like it when I indulge myself. Another time maybe."

"And him?" she asked, nodding toward Sora.

"Be nice," Assault murmured. "I'm taking care of him for Tommy."

"Shame. Could have been fun."

"Sal!"

"I'm just toying with you. Get going, or you'll keep Latissa waiting."


	8. Gang to Gang

**A/N: **Yep, back at work on this story too. Inspiration struck, so more chapters may be following this. Readers of Nobodies Dividied will once again recognise a few old faces, and one that Roxas terrorized.

* * *

><p>Assault had kept mostly to himself on their way out of the mall and back out into the city, but Sora remained with him all the same. He suspected that Assault and his brother probably knew more about what was going on than anyone else in the city, with the exception of their mysterious Oracle.<p>

After he'd been led three blocks south, Sora finally broke the silence.

"That message you gave her..." he began. Assault flashed him a curious look for only a moment before returning to watching the street, everyone on it and probably even things Sora didn't know to look for. "You're not gonna tell me anything are you."

"That depends on what you ask," Assault answered. "Normally I'd say no, but since Tommy is indisposed, you've got to travel with me while I handle the Oracle's messages here. At least until we find you another gang who'll take you in – one you want to join, that is."

"Reasonable. Who was the traitor you warned her about?"

"I told her too – he didn't say which one."

"You must have some idea though."

Assault led him round a corner, stopped sharply when he spotted something further down, then quickly guided him with a hand to his back in the opposite direction.

"Fuzz," he answered Sora's quizzical look. "Means the police," he added when the look turned puzzled. "As to the traitor... yes, I do have an idea, but if I'm right you'll have to take it up with Tommy. I need your eyes a moment."

"They don't come out, Assault."

"Not what I meant," he replied, concealing a smile. "The fuzz are down here, and we're just two blocks away from the official edge of the combat zone in these parts. That means either something's happened, or something's going to happen. In either case, I can see the signs – our people have moved out already."

"Aren't we close to the place where those people will meet us?"

"That's why I need your eyes. I can do it myself of course, I do it all the time, but an extra pair of eyes is always useful. The people we'll be meeting are from the Black Guard, and they'll place their gang sign on any territory or building they claim, no matter how temporary. That's what you'll be looking out for; a blue shield with a black stick figure on it, sometimes badly drawn but always recognisable."

"What will you be doing?"

"Keeping an eye out for any threats," he answered, pulling out a strange flat triangle with gleaming sharp tips. "That, and keeping you as safe as I can."

"With that?" Sora said, not quite believing what he was seeing.

"You'd be amazed. It's a different kind of throwing knife," he explained. "You're almost guaranteed to catch someone with it, and if you're skilled you can even sail it around a corner."

"Where did you get it?"

"I nicked it," he shrugged. "If you're anything like your old Nobody, you're not entirely happy about that, but you'll have to take a leaf from him and shove them feelings aside. Here you do what you gotta do, and to hell with the law. The Alliance itself is illegal, since according to law we're a community group and we don't have a duly appointed government agent keeping watch on what we do."

"Which you'd never accept anyway, right?" Sora asked. "I think I see that symbol you're after. Over there, in the mouth of that alley?"

Assault looked round, following his look.

"That's it. We're in the right area. The local Grey Wolves should be around, if the fuzz haven't chased them off."

"What're they like?"

"They're a part of a bigger group, the Guardians. They and the Black Guard take and hold territory like a guerilla operation. They're also our answer to a police force in areas we control outright, not that we need them. Keep moving, the fuzz are coming this way."

Sora didn't question him, since he was stuck under Assault's protection. He had no idea what he'd do were he on his own, just as well for now he kept it that way. He hoped just as well he'd be able to fin a gang that'd honour Tommy's word and help him get his friends back. The way things looked right now, he wasn't going to get far.

Assault steered him down a side street, not looking back but picking up the pace. Soon enough blue lights were flashing down the street, and Assault swore under his breath.

"They're after us, aren't they?"

"Probably not us in particular," he muttered darkly. They'll nick us on whatever they can."

"Wait – them ahead – are they the people we're meeting?"

Assault glanced up sharply at the group approaching, all bearing severe, utilitarian grey. They were young, armed and fiercely determined. Several of them had weapons showing already. The blue lights behind fell back again, but were still present.

"Run," Assault told him. "There are five cars behind us and we're exposed. They'll cover us."

The Grey Wolves ahead opened fire first, thankfully not on them. The sound of metal on metal and shattering glass came from behind them as the two bolted for the cover they provided, quickly ushered past them to take cover behind an old burnt out shell of a car.

"Morning Assault," the young man waiting for them said as they ducked down. He looked almost identical to all the others, except he wore goggles that seemed to display information on the inside for him. "Seem to be in a spot of trouble again."

"Can't you ever take anything seriously, Colbor?" Assault sighed.

"Not if I can help it. Latissa sent word you were in the area. Unfortunately it turns out the messenger was a mole and that's why you've got company. Frankly I was hoping for a bit more, you know. Five cars and a max of ten officers? You're not making enough enemies."

"As you can see," Assault said to Sora, "My friend here delights in making light of absolutely everything. Colbor, this is Shade, sometimes known as Samael after the ID we purloined for him. Shade, this is Corporal Colbor, leader of this bunch of maniacs."

Colbor gave a salute, ducking down lower as several shots whizzed overhead, then yelled, "You're taking too long if they're still shooting at us!"

"Problems corp," one of the others shouted back. "We've got backup – ten units. Fuzz frequencies say more incoming. We can't hold this line."

"Sorry Shade, introductions will have to wait. I gotta lead these people. Assault, head behind us a block and down one. Glen, Warb, go with them. Archie, find us Kildare, we've got wounded already and we're gonna take more ensuring these two get safely to the Guard."

Orders rapidly filtered out as Colbor's two men took each of them, rapidly escorting them away from the scene. One of them looked like he was barely a teenager. He looked almost like a toy soldier holding the gun, but he definitely held it as if he knew how to use it.

"How far are you two coming?" Assault asked them.

"End of the street," one replied. "Black Guard round the corner and a block or two down. Colbor sent word ahead to them to warn 'em."

"Word back is that Latissa is already dealing with their mole," the other added.

"Ouch," Assault winced. "I bet he's regretting ratting on them now."

"She," the first said. "Warb told us the mole was a girl."

"I know her too," Warb, the older of the two, nodded. "Never suspected her."

"What will happen to her?" Sora asked.

"Believe me Shade, you don't want to know," he sighed. "Thanks boys. You're heading back, aren't you?"

Glen nodded, "Right as soon as we see you in safe hands."

"Take a message back with you. Tell Colbor the Oracle wants him to go ahead with the old dockhouse plan in two days. Aim to hit it at six exactly. Evening, not morning."

"Dockhouse, six in the evening," Glen recited back. "Got it. Move."

"Nice people," Sora murmured.

"Don't mistake their attitude," Assault said, leading him down the street. Gunfire still came from behind them. "They're only short because they're efficient. True, it kinda kills the social life, but they do the job that's before them and they do it well. Looks like Latissa's people are here. Colbor runs a tight ship as always."

"Them?" Sora said, staring at the next approaching group with apprehension. They wore black, and the word 'punk' seemed to describe everything about them. Flared mohawks, spiked... everything and anything by the look of them. They looked menacing even just laughing amongst themselves.

"You won't be the first to be intimidated, but don't worry. They're on our side."

"I'm so glad you said that," Sora murmured. "I'd hate to come up against them."

"Most people feel the same way. Once they find out who you are, they'll respect you like they did Roxas. Or at least the way they would have if he'd stuck with them long enough to find out."

The Black Guard stopped a ways ahead of them, waiting for them to join then like the Grey Wolves had, ushering them through so they were between them and any pursuit. One of them seemed familiar to Sora, no doubt thanks to Roxas again.

"Aren't you Thrasher?" Sora asked after looking at the tall punk for a few moments.

"Have we met before?"

"I haven't but..."

"What is it?" Assault asked.

"I think he knew Roxas."

Thrasher winced. "God, no. Don't tell me you're the one he was the Nobody of."

"I thought so!" Sora exclaimed "I had this feeling I knew you, but I'd never seen you myself."

"Please tell me Roxas didn't teach you to drive," Thrasher said, almost pleading.

"Don't worry, big guy," Assault laughed. "Shade's yet to get behind the wheel of anything that has wheels. At least that I know of. He's more used to thing that fly, and even then he crashed."

"Hey, it wasn't _my_ fault they shot us down!" Sora protested.

"You had to say it, didn't you?" Thrasher said, ignoring the sniggers from the other gang members. "Roxas is a terror on the roads and he's just as bad in the air. Don't ever ask me to get in anything with you, kid," he told Sora.

"Nah, you're good," Sora replied. "I'm planning on keeping my feet firmly on the ground here. At least until I have to leave."


	9. Safe Haven

The Black Guard escorted Sora and Assault back to their base of operations without further incident. The place looked run down outside, graffiti covering every wall, every metal window cover, even the roof caught be some more daring souls. Even from the outside the heavy beat thumped through and was felt more than heard, and when they opened the door the volume alone felt as if it threatened to blow him off his feet.

"You stay in a place like this?" Sora demanded over the din.

"Sure do!" one punk yelled back happily. "You wanna join us?"

"Are you crazy?"

"Gotta be if you're one of us! It's a job requirement!"

Assault tried to shout something to Sora but was drowned out so he settled for grabbing hold of Sora's wrist, tapping Thrasher's shoulder and pointing to an upper window that would have overlooked the night-club setting below had it not been blinded. Thrasher took Assault's free wrist and bulled his way through the crowds, yelling obscenities at the more stubborn members and even once pausing to have a brief fight just to get them through.

"I've got an idea," Sora shouted to Assault. "You said his name would have some clout, right?" Assault just nodded, not trying to make himself heard. "What if we used it here to get them outta the way?"

Assault shouted again, but still lacked the volume to be heard. He pulled on Thrasher's arm again to drag him down close enough to be heard and Sora assumed he passed on the idea. He must have gotten it because Thrasher straightened, letting go of Assault to cup his hands and bellow out, "Outta the way! Roxas's Somebody, coming through!"

Though the music continued, the crowds around dropped in volume considerably, much of the visible members stopping what they were doing almost as soon as they heard the name. A path soon opened for them, giving them a wide berth and Sora a lot of attention as they passed. He tried not to think about how many eyes were on him.

Indistinct conversations were held throughout, every once in a while interspersed with what was clearly Roxas's name. Sora almost they'd continued to bull through instead of having so much sudden attention.

There was no need to be led now. The path simply opened before them as Thrasher passed a long bar, the more sober members at it also watching him pass, then at last they were through a door and out of the main floor.

"Damn," Sora breathed. "What did he do to deserve that kinda effect?"

"Terrorize me," Thrasher muttered. "That, and give the Inspector a taste of her own medicine, all while pretending to be one of us. If he'd wanted to stay, Latissa would have let him join us there and then without a question asked. No one would have had a problem with it, believe me. They know you now, Shade," he went on, continuing to show the way through the narrow and considerably quieter corridors that wound upstairs. "The Black Guard know what Roxas was and who you are, even if Roxas never named you specifically. You'll have the same respect from them as he'd get if he ever showed up again." He stopped, glancing back to Sora. "I don't suppose there's a chance he might..."

"I dunno," Sora replied. "All I know is he's a part of me. I guess... in a way, he and I are the same person. I just don't have his memories or anything. I get flashes, like your name, but that's about it."

"Right. Just wondering, you know. Boss's in there," he said, gesturing to the door ahead. "Let yourselves in, she knows you're coming. I'm gonna go back down and see what's being said about you."

Thrasher squeezed past them in the narrow corridor and after a flare of volume not long after, was gone.

"He's not lying you know," Assault told him. "Being able to say they respect you is no common thing. C'mon. Lets introduce you to Latissa. She'll take care of you from here, because I got too many errands to run to be taking care of you."

"You want to turn me into one of _them_?" Sora demanded. "Not that I don't like the idea, but..."

"That's your choice, Sora," Assault replied, using his real name for the first time he recalled. "She'll help you find an appropriate gang to run with if you don't. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he muttered.

Assault opened the doors to reveal a lounge, blinds covering windows on two sides of the room that he'd seen the other side of just minutes before. Lights from below flashed over them occasionally, but were usually lost to the normal light within the room. A large TV along with consoles and other players were along one wall with a library of games and movies for them, along with a more dusty library of books beside it. The other wall had closets built into it, then finally before the windows opposite them was a white chintz couch with a young woman reclining on it.

Like all the Black Guard she wore black. Her jacket had shorter sleeves, revealing the gang's logo tattooed on one arm. She wore a short skirt similar to the jacket, only just covering anything that might otherwise have been revealed, but the overall image was spoiled slightly by the similarly black boots. Latissa was toying with her long hair absently as she looked them over.

"So you're the one," she murmured eventually, sitting up. "You're the other half of Roxas, aren't you."

"That's me," Sora agreed. "I gather he did something for you."

"You could say that. Where's Tommy?"

"Something came up," Assault told her. "The Inspector caught him. He was providing cover for Sora here to make a clean getaway because Akira wants him. No word yet on where his boys went to, but they know how to take care of himself."

"I'll put out the word right away. They might not like my people but I'll bet they'll be happier for making contact with us. I'll have them work with me to get Tommy back. What about Sora? And is that his real name or..."

"Real name," Assault replied. "Two local names so far. Shade given to him by Tommy's boys, Samael for the ID we gave him. Oracle reckons he'll be here longer than a week, so we figured this time he'll need it. Need to find him a gang to go with, Latissa. I've taken care of him so far, but I've got too much to do."

"You don't mind staying with me until then do you?" Latissa asked him.

"No problem. Doesn't sound like your people will either."

"Quite. I'll have them get in touch with all others and see what's right for you. Assault, you have Oracle's opinion on ah... which name would you prefer?"

"Well, I can't use Sora, but I kinda like Shade."

"Shade it is then," she said, taking an envelope off Assault.

"You had that all this time?" Sora asked him.

"I wasn't supposed to tell you about it. The Oracle said you might have a few awkward questions if you saw it."

"I can see why," Latissa murmured, now chewing on a stray hair as she read. "An off-worlder, like Roxas. Of course, I'm not surprised given he was, but still. You know the Crystal Palace project was made just to detect people like you?"

"Crystal Palace? They're the ones who shot me down!"

"You came here in a craft? Oh yes, it say so right here, the Gummi Ship."

"How did the Oracle know about that?" Sora demanded.

Latissa gave him a long look before she finished reading, then enclosed the letter back in the envelope and handed it back to Assault.

"I think you'd better run along and get back to work before we have any more awkward questions," she advised. "I'll handle this one once you've gone. Come join me here on the couch, Sora. Sorry, Shade. And don't worry about anything your Nobody might have told you. Tommy made sure no one else would fall foul of that."

"Uh... do I want to know what happened?" Sora asked warily.

"He hasn't told you?"

"Roxas and I... we don't exactly talk. I get occasional feelings and flashes from him, but that's about it."

"Perhaps it's better that way," Latissa said, putting an arm about him as he sat with her. "The Oracle isn't named for no reason, Shade. He knows a great deal, perhaps more than some would like. It's been suspected he has off-world assistance, not that anyone has ever managed to prove it. At any rate, he knows what your craft is, and we do not. At least beyond its name."

"Did he say where it is?"

"Likely in the hands of the Corporates by now. Do not be concerned about that. Though the Oracle didn't say it as such, I would imagine Tommy said he'd get it and the friends mentioned back for you, no?"

"Something like that, yeah. And that others would do the same, right?"

"Exactly so. Tommy gave his word, and that will be respected throughout the alliance. Some gangs that have issues with him might not like it if you wanted in due to old rivalries, but they would respect it nevertheless."

Sora leaned back, noticing the arm again but not drawing back from it. It was a friendly arm, a protective arm, but was not intended to be anything more, he was sure. Maybe Roxas had felt otherwise, but he did trust her not to do anything... extra.

"I feel like I'm in over my head. I only came here to find out what Roxas had done, but now..."

"Now you're caught up in everything. Roxas was only here to do recon, I understand. He and Axel got caught up just after arriving, the local police arresting them. By luck, he met Tommy, who'd let himself get caught so he could break out someone else, and Roxas ended up going along with them. One does not stay in a cell when others are being broken out, after all."

"What happened to Axel?"

"Likely a similar situation to your friends, held in Corporate power. I'd like to say they're safe to reassure you, but let me assure you instead of the truth: If they are there, they will be carefully exploited, perhaps not even aware they are being exploited. The Oracle believes they will try to learn about your Gummi Ship, and he also believes that cannot be allowed. Though I understand you will not like it, if it looks to him like they are too close to discovering the secrets, he will not hesitate to destroy the ship."

"I kinda understand that, but... I'd rather it didn't come to that. I gotta get it back and get it outta here, and my friends too. I just hope they don't do anything to Donald or Goofy."

"I understand your concern Shade, but you must be prepared for the worst. Which means we need to think long-term. No one here has any idea what a Gummi Ship is, but if we assume your friends have been fooled or forced into helping them, we must also assume we have limited time. While we'll try to reunite you..."

"I might have to face staying here. Let me guess. That means you'll be trying to find a gang that I'll like being in, so if I have to stay at least I'll be happy, right?"

"Precisely. Now, I want you to think about what you'd be happy doing if it came down to it. I'm going to get people moving, spreading the word, both about Tommy and you. If you're willing to use your Nobody's name, some parts of the Alliance will be more willing to listen to you. Grease the way, so to speak. That's entirely up to you, of course, but it'll help."

"Seriously, does everyone know about him already? He was only here for a week!"

"And he did quite a bit in that time," Latissa replied, rising. "I'll be gone for a while, so if you want I'll have someone come up and let you know what he got up to. After he left, Tommy made sure we knew the rest of what he'd done. We might have embellished the story a little in places, but no good story is without embellishments. Do you want anything else? Something to eat or drink?"

"I uh, I think I'm alright for now. I don't think I'd care to have anything from the bar."

"Just like Roxas," Latissa chuckled. "Well, almost. He did have one drink, but he kept to that limit of one drink. It was justified. If you do need anything, just ask whoever I send to you. They'll take care of you while I'm busy."

Sora nodded, watching her leave. He was left alone, but here in her lounge there was probably no safer place for him right now, he reasoned. Between Tommy, Assault and Latissa, he'd started to figure out what was going on. Someone, likely the Akira that was after him, had the Gummi Ship and his friends and wanted to learn how to make their own. What would become of other worlds if he let that happen? Better to stay here and let it be lost before that would happen.

Unless he could get it all back before then and get out of here without Crystal Palace trying to shoot him down as he left. Then he could get back and warn Mickey, if no one else. He'd be able to arrange something to deal with them if they needed. If the Alliance helped him... well, he'd have to come back to repay that. Or try to do it for them while he was here.

What did he want to do? Having heard both sides of the story and even seen them in some measure, he felt he couldn't stand by and just let things continue this way, especially not now he'd gotten involved himself. The Alliance needed everyone they could get by the sounds of it – they needed him just like he needed them.

The Grey Wolves? A bit extreme for him. The idea of guns didn't sit well with him. Neither did a lot of the other things he was obliged to get involved in, but that really stuck with him. Xigbar had been bad enough.

Squats? Not a chance. Just the thought of the one he'd met almost made him retch. There was no way he could live like that. He knew too little about what Tommy's tiny gang had done, and the Black Guard was intimidating even when they were your friends. Not to mention some of the things he'd seen them doing...

He'd have to ask them to tell him more before he could decide.


	10. Fitting In

The member Latissa had sent to attend to him was relatively normal in comparison to the others he'd seen. While Shingle wore the same blacks as the rest of his fellow members, he had made a name for himself by eschewing all the usual vices the others favoured. There was nothing on him spiked, never once touched their drugs and had kept himself from forming any kind of relations, even one-off flings, with any other member. He did concede to an occasional drink if he felt it appropriate, but never to excess.

He had however ended up in several fights whenever someone suggested he was too afraid of them, resulting in his usual response to threats to come from his fists – fists which, he noticed, he'd judiciously covered in a black glove that was actually a flexible metal with padding inside as a shock absorber. Many people had found to their detriment that one of Shingle's fists hurt a great deal more than expected.

Naturally the first thing he'd asked of the tall, dark-haired boy was to recount Roxas's tale. That had been the whole reason he'd come here in the first place, finding out what Roxas had done.

"You're not serious," Sora said in disbelief. "How did he get in?"

"Remember those ID cards I told you he stole?" Shingle reminded him. "The Sea Metropolis goes all over the world, slowly but eventually. Police ID cards there work in any registered Union city, including their HQ – all stations get their data direct from there, so cutting all the power cables..."

"Crippled the rest of them," Sora finished. "And the Oracle must have taken full advantage of that."

"Oh, he did," Shingle agreed, chuckling. "It's just as well he's gone back to you, you know – they found his fingerprints at the scene, and that tied the crime to him. The old Inspector's been on his case ever since, but she doesn't know he wasn't from around here."

"Hopefully I don't have the same prints," Sora said. "I'd hate to have her on my case too."

"You know she already is, right? Word is Akira wants to see you, and the chances are if he wants you, you don't wanna be found."

"Yeah, I've been told already. It's a bit of a problem for me. He's probably the one who has my ship and friends, so I'd go with him, but... I know the situation, I've seen and heard it. From what I hear, the moment he had what he wanted, I'd just be bumped off so I couldn't stop him."

"Probably, yeah," Shingle nodded. "Bit brutal, but kinda true. You also got the Code to keep to. You did take it, didn't you?"

"You think I'd be here if I hadn't? I didn't exactly have much choice you know. Just like I don't have any choice in what I do now, not really. I've gotta find something I want to do, people who'll do it with me and at the same time, and try to get everything back safely... I'm kinda wondering if there's even anything out there I _can_ do."

"Well staying safe would be a good bet," Shingle suggested, glancing down into the club below once again as he paced around the room. "In theory, as long as Akira doesn't have you, he can't learn anything, at least as quick as he could otherwise. Keep your head down, stay out of sight, don't let anyone or anything connect Sora to Shade or Samael."

"I gotta have something to do, Shingle. I get restless if there's nothing to do."

"Well sit tight. Let the boss do her thing. We got chapters all over this city and other Union cities as well. One of the few gangs who do, I might add. She won't just get you one possibility, she'll get you more than you ever thought possible. Until then... well, you're welcome to try being one of us."

Sora thought it over, like Shingle glancing back down at the scene below. Through the various lights and low fog it was hard to make out anything specific, but Shingle had easily explained the kinds of things that happened down there no matter which one of the Black Guard's establishments anyone went to.

"I think I'd end up being a lot like you," he said eventually. "Maybe Roxas had the right idea. Keeping himself as he was. I don't think I'd like to get involved in some of those things."

"Sensible. Drink and drugs dull your mind, the rest is just a distraction. You'll get called into question though, same as me. Most of them don't share my views, and those that do will still indulge themselves once in a while to prove they're not like me."

"Let them," he shrugged. "Roxas wouldn't do it, and neither will I. And don't tell me I'll end up in a fight – I know that already. You did, so I probably will too. But by the sounds of it I'm already up to my ears in one fight. What's one more?"

"That's a reckless way of looking at things, Shade," Shingle observed. "If you do decide to do this, I'll guide you – we'll be able to cover some of it as learning from my example that way. It still has to be you who makes the choice though. Even if you choose to go with another gang..."

"Let me think about it a bit," Sora decided. "At least if I'm gonna stick around I'll have to look like one of you, right? We'll see how that turns out and take it from there." he paused. "I gotta feeling I'm gonna regret saying this, but we'll do something with my hair too, otherwise everyone is gonna recognise me."

"You know, no one's ever going to believe you said that. Latissa and Roxas had one loud argument over his hair. He was very protective of it."

"Well, I am too, but I can't go letting it give me away now, can I?" Sora replied. "Where do we go about getting me some clothes like yours?"

Shingle opened a wardrobe in one corner that seemed filled with threads matching the gangs typical appearance in various sizes and variations on the standard design. Not all of them had the iconic if simple logo on them, but due to their sheer size there was no need – the chances were if they looked like a Black Guard member, they probably were.

"You can leave those threads here," Shingle told him. "Pick 'em up if and when you leave, keep them with you. Strictly speaking no matter who else you go with you're still one of Tommy's boys, but without them to prove it people have only your word for it. Not that we'd doubt your word, but we've had people before who've tried to use that to get out of trouble, so we kinda have to have something or someone to back us up."

"Yeah, fair enough," Sora replied, pulling off the shirt to change.

"I'll be back in a few – gotta find some stuff for your hair. Any preferences, by the way?"

"Just don't make me look like the result of a stoned punk and a parrot," Sora answered, thinking of some of the multicoloured mohawks he'd seen. "Something simpler, I think."

He kept to that for much of what he picked out – simple. The only concession he had to make were the boots, as the only ones that fit him were of the spiked variety and had metal toecaps too. These boots were clearly made for fighting with.

One he'd finished changing he caught another disapproving feeling.

"It's not as if it's permanent, you know," he muttered in case it was Roxas. "I'll find someone else to go with if it's just them bothering you, we just have to give Latissa time to find me somewhere."

"Knock your head while in there?" Shingle asked from the doorway. "Turn round, lemme see how you look before we give you a new hairstyle." Sora did as he asked, standing in the middle of the room right beneath the main lights. "You're still missing something," he said thoughtfully. "You need to hold yourself differently. Cross your arms and lean back slightly. Try to look as if you're having a really bad day and have every intention of spreading it around."

Sora put on his best impression of it, causing Shingle to try not to laugh.

"Alright, maybe we'll forget that last, it just doesn't look right for you," he decided. "Just remember you're part of the most feared gang. You don't take anything from anyone, except another one of us."

"And even then I settle it within the gang, right?"

"Ideally without bloodshed but as long as you don't go too far a few blows aren't going to cause any trouble. Now leave your shirt and jacket here while we do something about your hair. Think we'll lighten the shade and cut it back. Skinhead won't look too good on you, so it'll just be enough to make it look more like a local style."

"I've had one idea about that, Shingle. The way it looks now is kinda distinctive, right?"

"Pretty much. I doubt you'll find anyone anywhere who has it the same way."

"So why not start a new trend? If the Inspector's counting on it to give me away, lets give her sightings of it throughout the city? Change mine so it's not distinctive any more and she's got one big wild goose chase."

Shingle thought about it, leading him back down the corridor outside Latissa's room.

"It's got possibilities," he said finally, thumping hard on one door. "Rat, get up! I've got work for you!"

"Not my business," a voice came back. "I got stuff up in here."

"I don't care who you've got in there, boss is outta town and she's left me in control here! Get your pants back on and get out here before I come in there and make you do it butt naked!"

"Nice touch," Sora murmured. "I guess I gotta get used to that too."

"It's fairly common, yeah," Shingle agreed as Rat made sounds of getting up at last. Shingle passed on Sora's idea to him and set him – and his girlfriend – to work spreading it throughout the city before he steered Sora into a bathroom to finish his own transformation.


	11. Out With the Gang

Normally Sora put considerable effort to ensure the spikes in his hair were just right. Kairi would often call him fussy for it since he'd refuse to show up until he was satisfied with them. Once they'd been taken out of his hair though, considerably changing his appearance already, Shingle had decided there was, to his relief, no actual need to cut it back.

Instead he kept to his insistent need to lighten it, assuring him that it'd wash out eventually, and by that time hopefully the Inspector would have discovered the emergent hairstyle and decided not to rely on it, if at all.

Once left unstyled, Sora's newly lightened hair covered more than it did before, concealing ears and until he brushed it aside, eyes as well.

"Think it suits you like that," Shingle remarked. "Seems to take the edge off your permanently happy look."

"Well excuse me," Sora replied, looking in the mirror again. "Can't believe that's me in there. I mean, I look completely different."

"Just as well, because if you did see you in there it'd mean we've done it wrong. Sora doesn't have any place in King City."

Sora turned back to him and with a straight face replied, "Sora? Don't know anyone by that name."

"Good. Now boy-" Sora cut him off, raising his fist. Shingle nodded, "You got that one quickly."

"Sore spot. I have a name. Three of them now. No reason not to use them."

"Right. Now lets get you out into the city and give you something to do. Roxas got to jump in at the deep end, and now we know you're the other side of him next to no one is going to want to jump in any vehicle with you, so lets not tell them you can't drive."

Sora's stomach grumbled.

"Suggestion much? Maybe I shoulda taking up Assault's offer earlier. Been a long while since I got something eat."

"You're thinking too small, Shade. Of course you'll get something, but ideally you want to get something else, or do it with style. And witnesses – you gotta have someone to see it, otherwise no one believes you."

"Alright, so how do we go about it? Perfect chance for you to show the gang you really are showing me something, I reckon. Since I've gotta have an example to learn from..."

"Let me go talk to the bartender so he knows where we're going and what we're doing. Technically I'm in charge here while the boss is busy, but no self respecting member is going to stay cooped up when there's trouble to be caused."

"Yeah," Sora agreed, understanding. "But what're we going to do?"

Shingle looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. "Tell me if any of these terms mean anything to you, Shade. Racketeering, extortion, protection payments-"

"I know what you mean. People pay you a fee so you don't give them any trouble, right?"

"Not just us. Trouble from anyone. A modest fee, and we ensure our people are always around to discourage others from causing trouble as well, no matter what their affiliation. Only allies of the Black Guard get out of that. If something does happen that wasn't due to us, we return some of the money they've paid as a kind of apology for letting something happen, help them recover, and then we track down who did it and... persuade them we'd rather they didn't."

"You know, I can't shake the feeling that 'persuade' has a strong sound of 'hit them until they beg for mercy'," Sora remarked.

"Really? I can't imagine why anyone would think that. Go grab your shirt and jacket and meet me out front. I'll take you on a round with me and a couple of the others. You and me will be there to do the talking, the others will be there to stand there and look intimidating."

"Figures," Sora laughed. "No one could be afraid of me, even like this."

"Wait until you walk out of that door, Shade," Shingle called after him. "The world at large won't see you – they'll see the jacket, the outfit and the people you're with. They don't see individuals, they see the Black Guard, and that's what they're afraid of."

Sora thought about that, wincing briefly as the door below opened to let a blast of noise out that even two floors up and round several corners hit him like a hammer. If he stayed out in that too long he'd surely end up half-deaf.

It was odd to think someone would be afraid of him. No matter what else, he hadn't exactly made himself intimidating. Now he'd gone from one end of the scale to the other, and all he'd done was make himself blend in.

There was however no doubting it was necessary, no matter what happened. Letting someone like Akira out into other worlds? Not on his watch, and if that meant he had to hide by being completely out of his usual character, so be it.

There was also no getting out of going through the main floor to leave the building. No doubt there was at least one and probably more back doors to this place, but the only one he knew about was the front door, and that meant trying not to lose his hearing again. Among other things.

When he finally braced himself for the wall of sound and headed out into the crowded club scene, he noticed another difference. First he'd had to rely on Thrasher to bull through, then one simple revelation had meant he had a wide berth. Now he was one of them no one gave him a second glance. There was, for the most part, no need to push or shove.

One drunk punk grabbed his arm as he passed, slurring out something made hopelessly indecipherable. He could smell the drink on his breath, which probably hadn't been very good to begin with.

Sora stared at him as he babbled his nonsense for a time, then casually pulled his arm and with it the punk up and punched him between the eyes. His eyes crossed, the hand losing its grip, and he slid down underneath a table.

"What, did you think I was just going to listen to him all day?" he said ungraciously when the drinking companions stared up at him.

"Nah," the nearest answered. "Just most people buy him another drink. Since he don't want any more..." she picked up the half full glass and offered it to him.

Sora barely hesitated for a moment, then responded in the first way that came to him. He took a sniff, sipped a bit of the bitter tasting drink, then set it down shaking his head. "Not my kinda poison," he told them, then slipped into the crowd again before they had other ideas, like maybe asking what he'd normally pick. Which would certainly not include whatever had been in that glass.

Shingle was not outside when Sora finally made it to the door and outside, leaning against the graffitied walls. There was a narrow line of dusty dirt around it littered with old spray cans, empty bottles both plastic and glass, not all of them intact. A graveyard of cigarettes both handmade and bought ready made, all burnt down to the butts, the ash from them similarly left there.

On an impulse he picked the nearest discarded spray can, spraying it against the steps to see if it worked. It left a short white streak along the side, and a further idea occurred to him. The existing graffiti had been been sprayed over so many times, some works of what could loosely be called art hidden behind more recent stuff, so he simply selected one that was already partly covered and though his own work was hardly as good as the rest, left his own design over it in the shape of his Kingdom Key.

The locals wouldn't know what it meant, but that didn't matter. It was a mark he'd left that showed he was here, and one that, with any luck, the Inspector wouldn't tie to him.

The club door opened again just as Sora tossed the can back into the dirt bed, letting out Shingle and two considerably bigger punks who'd shaved most of the hair off their heads except for thankfully single-coloured mohawks.

Shingle spotted him in a few moments, taking in how far away from the door he was, the cans nearby, and then finally the wall and Keyblade design he'd left on it.

"Remind me again, Shade," he said casually already heading down the street. "How long have you been with us?"

"I dunno," he replied. "Any idea what year it is?"

"Good answer," he chuckled. "Keep it vague. The two jacked guys behind us are the hired muscle, as if you didn't already know that. Crack and Strongarm," he identified them. "Boys, this is Shade. 'nuff said, no questions answered. You don't need to know more about him except that he's new and I'm showing him the ropes, got it?"

The two leered at Sora as he glanced to each of them feigning a look of not being impressed while trying to conceal the fear that he knew both of them could probably make places hurt that he didn't know could hurt.

"He's a scrawny bugger," Crack observed. "Sure he can cut it?"

"Wanna find out what happens when you annoy this scrawny bugger?" Sora replied without looking back.

"Brave little guy, ain't he?" Strongarm said. "Keep that up and you'll fit right in."

"I already do, don't I?"

"Not quite," Shingle disagreed. "You _look_ like one of us, and you've started to pick up on how to _act_ it, but you're still wet behind the ears. A bit of experience will change that, and that's just what we're going to see to it you get. We're going up into the old Italian district of town. There aren't many Italians left there now, but there's still businesses set up there. Vatican street is already paid up, Roma street is free territory – means we haven't persuaded them yet – but Carst and Laringo streets owe us money. We own all of Carst so we'll just be persuading them to pay up, there's a few on Laringo who haven't learned they need us yet so if you see any bricks or rocks lying around pick 'em up, smash a few windows."

"What, while we're still going down the street getting the money off their neighbours?" Sora asked."Won't they do something?"

"Down here? Think again," Shingle told him. "They're on the edges of the Combat Zone, which means coppers will only show up in force. The nearest station is ten blocks away and is being bribed by the CDC to pick up kids to use as lab rats. It's a cushy number for them, so they're not inclined to do anything risky when they can just pick 'em up for a bounty. The only protection down here is what they have themselves and what we give them. They can bring in guns but we'll notice and we'll steal them. They'll wake up one morning with a trashed store and no guns."

"Who's the CDC?"

"Centre for Disease Control," Strongarm replied. "Officially they try to cure 'em and keep 'em under control whenever there's an outbreak they don't know how to cure, but they gotta get their funds somehow so unofficially they pay coppers, mercenaries and bounty hunters to give them test subjects for the less ethical experiments."

"That's wrong," Sora said disapprovingly. "On so many levels."

"We know," Shingle agreed. "I assume this means if I tell you what a CDC guy looks like you'll have no problem making them regret it?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself," he agreed. "But first, lets persuade people they need us."

"Still doubt him?" Strongarm asked Crack.

"Nah. Not any more," Crack decided after a moment.


	12. Persuasion

The Italian district Shingle led them to was a riot of conflicting colours, and while not many of the stores actually seemed to qualify under what he'd called 'typical Italian fare' there were still places that kept the name accurate. Signs in foreign languages adorned several store fronts, with other writing grudgingly scrawled on in a smaller, but understandable tongue.

In some ways it seemed like a flattened and less busy version of the mall he'd been to before, doing a considerable trade in the myriad variety of stores that seemed to fill every available space on the streets, as if jostling for position. The four of them were, he noted, given a wide berth – along with some clearly hostile looks.

These were however in the minority overall, as word was clearly about that the Black Guard were the reason this district was, for the most part, considered safe. Given how busy it seemed, certainly safer than other parts of town.

Shingle led the way down the first street without paying any attention to the stores on either side. After catching sight of the sign marking it as Vatican, he didn't need to ask why. This one was all paid up already. There were only a few boarded up windows that attested to some reluctance to pay up, but otherwise it was impossible to say at a glance how it had been taken.

Most of the staff at each store watched them pass warily, though only one actually came out and gabbled away at them in what was presumably the same language that had been used on it. Shingle listened to the entire thing without so much as a change in expression, then when she'd finally finished he answered, "I have no idea what you just said, but I'm sure someone will be around to look into it."

"She said they were broken into last night," Crack translated almost absently while leering at someone passing by. "Came in through the service access at the back and stole the cash in the register."

"How much?"

Crack translated again, holding a brief conversation that seemed more like gibberish to Sora, then answered, "They're not sure. No one counted up last night's takings because three staff were off sick and one of them was supposed to do it. I told her I'd bring some guys around later who speak their lingo to talk to everyone else, find out everything we can."

"Best get on it right now," Shingle decided. "Don't want these people to start thinking we're no better than the alternatives. Run on back up, we'll manage with only three."

"Happen often?" Sora asked as the staff and Crack both went their separate ways.

"What?"

"Someone just coming out like that and bothering us," he said.

"Oh. Yeah, that happens. We always have someone wandering about for them to report that sorta thing to, but some just wait until we pass through on a collection run. We take a left at the end for Carst – Laringo is the other way. They're supposed to be one street, but Carst is pedestrianized, unlike the others. Foot traffic only."

"Makes it harder to find something to persuade them with," Strongarm observed. "Usually the sight of us slashing the staff's tires outside is a good incentive."

"You're bad people, you know that?" Sora said, then before either said anything more he grinned and added, "I think I'm gonna enjoy this. I don't get nearly enough chances to do anything like it."

Once they started up Carst their presence took a clear effect on people. Here it was known it was time to pay up, so not only were they avoided even more than before, there were stores and even a few restaurants that quickly started to put up metal meshes over their windows, something probably normally only used when they closed for the night. They wanted to protect their windows, if nothing else.

"How many are we looking for today?" Strongarm asked Shingle.

"All of them except the usual four who pay in advance. They're the only ones who do, and even then that's only because we made examples of them when we first moved in. They're not in a hurry to have another firebomb through the window. Here first," he told them, shouldering his way past several customers into what looked like a gift shop of sorts – somehow still doing a trade.

The customers looked like they were about to complain until they realized what they were seeing, then without a single word said they all found other places more interesting, leaving only the two staff behind the counter. Shingle, now with a deceptively moon-faced look about him, leaned on it and continued to say nothing.

"I don't serve your kind in here," one of the told staff, an older man with a disapproving look, told them obstinately.

"Good thing we're not here to buy then, isn't it?" Shingle replied.

"Then get out of my store."

Strongarm cracked his knuckles, a sound that almost set Sora to wincing just at the sound of it. He concealed this, while Shingle continued, "That's not going to happen and you know it. Now I don't know about you, but there's a lot of... valuable looking items around here."

No one said anything after that, so on an inspiration Sora picked up a porcelain ornament, examining it closely. "Shame if something were to happen to them," he told them. The other staff member reached for the ornament, fended off by Strongarm easily.

"No call for that kind of behaviour now," Shingle told them pleasantly. "Just pay up and we'll be on our way. You know the rules by now. Strange that you're being so stupid about it though – you're never usually any trouble. Was it something we didn't do?"

"You people are making it impossible to get any decent stock in!" he burst out at them. "No one wants to take the risks of coming down here, no one wants to work here – no one except you people, and then I'd only be giving you even more!"

"And this is our problem... why?" Shingle asked.

"Because if you don't do something about it, I don't bring in enough to make a profit and pay your extortionate rates, that's why. You want your money, you do something about it," he said flatly.

"Just tell them they're safe as long as that's _all_ they're doing. If we find out otherwise..." it was left hanging ominously.

"Forget it," the manager snapped. "And get out of my store!"

Sora quite deliberately dropped the ornament, which shattered on the floor.

"Oh, how clumsy of me," he smiled benignly at them. Shingle flashed him an approving look, then turned back to the manager.

"It's like this. Shade here is... prone to such behaviour, and out big friend here... well, you get the idea. And you have a store full of interesting, possibly valuable and potentially breakable stock. Imagine how much more difficult it would be for you if an accident were to happen?"

"You'll ruin me!" the manager exclaimed.

"Does seem that way, doesn't it?" Shingle agreed.

He muttered something under his breath, tugging open the register to take money out, slammed down on the counter. "Alright you little thieves," he snarled at them. "You've got your damn money, now get the hell out of my store!"

"In our own time," he replied calmly, counting the money then nodding as he tucked it away. "Always nice doing business with you."

"Get out!"

Strongarm waited for the two of them to leave before he left, just in case they tried anything stupid most likely, nudging the fragments of the ornament away from the door as he closed it.

"Nice touch there," Shingle told Sora. "I could have thought of a few other ways to do it myself, but you're off to a good start."

"It just kinda seemed..." Sora hesitated. "I don't want to say right because that definitely wasn't. Fun though," he added.

"C'mon then. Lets go get you some more experience and a bit more fun, and watch closely. I'll lead for all the ones on this side of the street so you can learn, then we'll come back down the other side and you can take over, show us what you've learned."

"And get something to eat while we're at it," Sora added.

"Café up next," Strongarm told them. "They're never any trouble. Not a bad place either. Some of us go there when we want to talk more openly."

The Café was at least more cordial than the previous store had been, the staff on hand only delaying them because the manager there had insisted he was to handle dealings himself. Sora helped himself while they waited, to a few disapproving looks from the few other patrons about. They made no move to stop him though, nor did anyone say anything. When the manager emerged to count out and hand over their money the matter wasn't raised at all, though he did get given a weary look that suggested he was used to this happening to him.

Shingle employed a variety of approaches on the following businesses as he worked his way up the street, taking a more forceful approach when he expected trouble, a more threatening one when they came to an estate agency that had threatened them with the police, but mostly he never raised his voice or made demands – he just persisted until they paid up. Customers seldom stayed long in the same room as them, queues mysteriously vanishing and dispersing whenever they turned up.

Sora kept his eyes open and picked up what he could from Shingle, adding his own input as he had before to help out or to test out how much he'd learned so far, but the real test he knew would come when it came to his side of the street, something he wasn't entirely certain he was looking forward to.

They paused at the head of the street when Shingle's side was done to take a break, and also for him to give Sora some last advice.

"Don't hesitate," he told him. "And don't relent. The only choice they have is between paying us or getting ruined by us until they do. No matter what, we always hold the upper hand. They can't threaten us with the coppers because they won't come, and they can't gang up against us because there's more of us than there are them."

"Not over in Nash," Strongarm interjected. "Couple towns over," he answered Sora's quizzical look. "Grew up there before I had to leave town. There was a... misunderstanding. The Guard thought it'd be a good idea if I found somewhere else to be for a bit. It was hardly my fault the guy was one of Akira's sons. It's not as if he wore any mark to show it."

Sora couldn't help himself but ask, "What happened?"

"There was an argument," he shrugged. "And we'd both had a few too many to drink. I was only there because I was supposed to be keeping tabs on a few others who frequented that pub, if it wasn't for that I'd have been at our own place there. He drew a knife on me, and I don't like people who point sharp things at me so I threw him out the window. By pure chance a truck went past, and the little bugger was right in front of it."

"Ouch," Sora winced. "That must have hurt."

"Yeah, he was pronounced dead at the scene from what I heard," Strongarm nodded. "As soon as I realized I'd bitten off more than I could chew I made myself scarce. We're outnumbered as it is over there, and I didn't exactly have good enough company to stick around. Anyway, it was only later we found out his relation to that bastard Akira."

"You're being too nice to him," Shingle chuckled. "I can think of much better names for him. Anyway, we don't have to worry about any of that down here at least. This is easier territory by far. Just remember it's our territory and we're the ones in control. You don't shown any sign of weakness – unless it's theirs."

Sora looked back down the street and the places he was being left with taking.

"Not that bank branch, surely," he said, pausing on that one.

"Nah, not that one. We let them stick around because there's still plenty of ways to spend money digitally, and it's always good to leave the punters a way to draw it back out for us. They know better than to make trouble though. You also don't have to worry about the two big restaurants, they're among the ones who pay up in advance. Soon as you're ready, we'll take the rest on."

Sora just nodded. Helping Shingle was one thing, doing it himself so soon was another entirely.


	13. A Bad Break

After some last advice and a few stories that had sparked some ideas, Sora took the lead for the first place on his side of the street – a small time clothing store that was evidently doing better than any local mall – if there was one – was probably doing.

In his pockets were a variety of things he'd picked up to lend a persuading hand – a box of matches, a still half-full drinks bottle he'd got at the café before and not finished that he'd stuffed a short piece of cloth in, half a brick and a few other things besides. Shingle might not have needed them, but he'd done this for longer and was undoubtedly still better than him at it.

He had to remind himself he wasn't going to be there to be a nice guy like usual, something that went against his usual grain, but he knew was necessary. Stand tall and proud, his unlikely companions had told him, and remember who really runs the joint.

As before, the various customers either left or quickly paid for their goods beforehand as he picked their way through the displays, not in any hurry at all. They had time to spare, after all. When the last customer had finally made their way our, warning someone against coming in as they left, Sora followed Shingle's earlier example and leaned on the counter. The three attendants on hand looked back as if daring him to say anything – except for one, who turned a little pale and quietly excused himself.

"Well?" Sora asked after a few moments. When none of them made a reply he added. "You don't have all day you know. I left a few little things around on my way in. You wouldn't want to find out what they were _after_ I leave, would you?"

"You wouldn't dare," one of the two remaining attendants said.

Sora turned his benign smile on them and replied, "Would you care to rephrase that in the form of a wager?"

"Not with you people, that's for sure," the other muttered.

Sora reached into his jacket and took out a simple little device that _looked_ for all the world like a remote set up with a typically red button on it. Still smiling at them he simply held it ready to trigger it.

"He will, you know," Shingle told them. "People always find out the hard way."

"While you're still in here?"

"Nothing we ain't seen before," Strongarm shrugged behind him.

"You know where the cash is, and you should know by now how much. Hand it over and that'll be the end of it." He paused, then smirked and added, "Probably."

"Shade," Shingle told him reprovingly.

"I know," Sora said absently, watching them with his hand still over the remote. One of the two staff pushed the other aside in a scrabble to get what they wanted, thrusting it at him. Sora just nodded to Shingle, who took it off his hands. "Guess what?" Sora said afterwards.

The two shared a hesitant look, then one asked, "What?"

"You're going to find out anyway," he replied, pushing the trigger. Both of them dived for cover, then only when they realized nothing had happened did they start to come back into view again.

"You tricked us!" one of them accused.

"No, I just let you think this did something," Sora replied, still grinning nastily at them. "It's not my fault you fell for it. Maybe it'll persuade you to be more cooperative next time," he suggested, making his way back out again.

"He's got a nasty streak in him, hasn't he?" Strongarm observed back outside. "Would never have thought of that myself."

"I'm glad you liked it," Sora told him. "I could grow to like doing that to people. It's not nice, but it's definitely fun to watch them panic like that."

"You know Shade, I wonder if you're even going to want to take up any of the offers the boss finds you," Shingle said. "You're taking to this nicely. _Not_ that one, they've paid," he said quickly.

"Guess I forgot for a moment," Sora conceded, then stopped and took a few paces back, looking back through one of the restaurant. "Is that who I think it is?" he asked. "Table at the back, left corner."

The two also looked, peering through the crowds at the group there. There were several familiar looking suited goons around the table, then partly concealed behind them was the unmistakable face of the Inspector. Tommy was nowhere to be seen, however.

"Well, well," Shingle murmured. "Isn't that interesting? She must know it's one of our places. Just look at how many agents she's got around her."

"Give me a few of the guys and I could take them out in no time," Strongarm said critically.

"But not today," Shingle told him firmly. "That's not what we're here for, and anyway they're paid up – we don't cause trouble there."

"I can think of one thing we could do," Sora said. "It's one of our places, you said that yourself. Wouldn't she find it... inconvenient if we had a word with the owners and had her barred from it? We could offer them a discount on their next payment if we needed."

Shingle looked thoughtful for a few moments, then said, "It's got possibilities. You guys go on ahead – I'll catch up in a sec, I'm going to nick your idea while you carry on."

"One of the reasons Latissa isn't afraid to leave him in command down here when she leaves," Strongarm rumbled, nudging Sora into continuing. "He's good at making spot decisions, and he always considers the consequences. Got a level head at all times. Shame he doesn't drink much or I'd buy him one."

"He's got good reason," Sora replied. "As have I. Another café place," he noted. "There's a lot of them around here."

"Eye-ties like their food," he shrugged. "Be ready for trouble this time, Shade – there's only two of us where there's supposed to be four. Three is manageable, but two... they'll take chances."

"I'll keep my eyes open," he nodded, again wandering in. The patrons this time did not all leave. Most remained in fact, and many gave distinctly hostile looks. Sora ignored them. If it came down to it and a fight broke out, he was fairly sure he could hold his own here. Tight quarters maybe, since the place was barely wide enough for three rows of tables with space between them.

It narrowed down to just one at the end where the till and kitchens started, and with food on display there was nothing to lean on this time. The man on the till said something in a foreign language to the chefs, one of which looked over, checked the food he was preparing, then opened a door and shouted something through it in the same language.

"I'm going to assume for your sake that you just called the manager down," Sora told him.

"You wait. He see you soon," he replied. He didn't sound as if he used this language often, thick with accent. "Move aside. Customers they pay, I deal with them."

Two such customers came up then, a middle-aged couple by the looks of them. The man handed over a bit of paper, taken and entered into the till. The man behind read out the total.

"Inconvenient," the customer murmured. "I don't have enough on me."

"But-" his wife started, but he gave her a look.

"It's alright dear," he told her. "I'll stay here. I'm sure he won't mind waiting while you go to the bank for me."

Strongarm leaned down and murmured to Sora, "Copper. Watch out." Sora tried not to show any sign of what he'd heard. What was a policeman doing down here? Off duty, since he was out of uniform, but even so – in their territory, on his own?

He spotted Shingle just outside, waiting but watching curiously. As he watched he also noticed the policeman's wife had turned left up the street. He knew the bank was down to the right. A gnawing suspicion suggested there was more going on here than he'd first thought.

The manager, a tall man rich in years, finally emerged from the door the chef had shouted up, coming round the counter to them. "You come this way," he told them. "Don't bother them."

"Oh, it's no bother," the policeman insisted. "Don't mind me at all."

There was a pause, then Sora said, "Here's as good as anywhere else. You know what we're here for."

The manager nodded, though he still tugged at one arm. "Yes. You sit here to wait, will be with you in a moment." He was definitely nervous – perhaps he too knew just who was behind them now. This time he cooperated, taking the seats nearby to wait. The policeman continued to watch, though one hand had strayed to a pocket. Perhaps not off-duty but undercover?

Sora beckoned Strongarm closer, then murmured, "You can deal with him if he tries anything, right?"

"Depends on if he has backup," the big man replied. "One isn't a problem."

"Down here though..." Sora trailed off, keeping an eye on the manager who was now making some show of fumbling with the cash draw and casting frequent nervous looks toward them. "Is he normally that jittery, do you know?"

"He wasn't last time I did this beat, but it's been a while since then. Seems a little suspicious. Want to turn this one over to Shingle?"

"He's at the door, and I don't doubt he'll call for backup if we need it. I've got to know us well enough to know that."

"What are you thinking?"

Sora didn't reply at first, thinking it through himself. "The manager's stalling," he said eventually. "But he can only do that for so long. The copper's wife went the wrong way for the bank too. He's waiting to catch us, I'm sure. Here in our territory too, so why don't we let him? If he's on his own he's in trouble, if not it's a race between his backup and ours."

"That's a risky plan, Shade," Strongarm told him. "You're balancing everything on maybes."

He glanced up to the waiting policeman and the nervous manager again, then grinned again and said, "What's life without a little risk?" Then he raised his voice slightly and to the manager said, "Need a hand there?"

"No!" he said, clearly startled. "No, I can handle it. It does this often. Just be patient, will be with you soon."

"Maybe if you keyed in the right code," the policeman observed. "Unless you've changed it since I came in yesterday, you're entering it backwards."

The manager's expression took on a hunted look, quickly replaced by a forced smile as he nervously answered, "Getting on in years. Sometimes memory plays tricks. Good to have someone around to help refresh it."

"Happy to have helped," the policeman said amicably. "I'm sure you don't want to keep these young men waiting too long. Things to do, places to be, that sort of thing." His eyes locked with Sora's.

"Something like that," he replied evasively. "I wouldn't expect an adult to understand."

Everything seemed to hold there. The manager was holding his breath, looking between the two of them as if expecting trouble. After a few tense moments, the policeman chuckled and made some show of looking away, though not far enough to put the two of them out of his sight. The manager breathed a sigh of relief, counting out money from the cash draw. Strongarm concealed a small, evil looking knife in one hand.

"Just in case," he murmured. "I just signalled Shingle while you two were staring each other down," he added. "Give us a head start just in case."

"Did anyone see?"

"Everyone, but they don't know what they were looking for."

"Wish you'd told me about that before," Sora complained, but said no more as the manager started back.

"All there," he told them, laying it out on the table. "I pay, no trouble?"

"That's the way it goes. And if someone other than us gives you trouble, just let us know. We'll... persuade them not to."

"No trouble at all?" he asked again, trying not to be obvious about drawing their attention to the policeman. He knew alright.

"From anyone," Sora affirmed, collecting the money and stowing it in a pocket. He'd give it to Shingle later. "Just leave everything to us," he told the manager, who gratefully slunk away to avoid what he suspected would be coming next. "Let's go," he said to Strongarm. "We've got what we came for."

"You're not going anywhere, boy," the policeman told him. One hand drew out what it had been on before, a small leather wallet flipped open to reveal his ID. "Except to the station with me."

"Oh yeah?" Sora asked belligerently. "You and whose army?

"I was wondering when you'd say something like that," he replied. "So I took the liberty of bringing in a little backup."

He snapped his fingers, and it seemed as if everyone in the café was suddenly on their feet and pointing a weapon at them.

"Me and _this_ army I think you'll find, my boy," the officer said, smiling.


	14. Black-up

Sora briefly catalogued the array of arms directed at him and Strongarm, taking in more barrels than he'd ever seen before in some of the most unlikely pairs of hands. An elderly couple by the door looked all the more menacing for the expertly held shotguns in their wrinkled hands. He also noticed Shingle give them a brief signal of understanding and head out of sight.

Strongarm was on his feet, but Sora knew the two of them were in no situation to mount an attack no matter what the Black Guard might have thought. He was nervous, but even having spent a few hours as a member seemed to give him a kind of reckless courage even in the face of this – and his own experiences hadn't left him unprepared, despite the differences.

He lay one hand lightly on Strongarm's partly upraised hand to show he didn't want him to act just yet, stepped forward and put on his favourite cocky grin as he addressed the previously undercover officer.

"You think they're gonna do something about me?" he asked. "You know where you are and who you're dealing with, don't you?"

"Naturally," the officer shrugged. "I'm being paid triple wage plus a substantial hazard fee for the job. It was the only way I would cooperate."

"Is your wallet all you think about?" Strongarm asked him scathingly.

"I could accuse you of the same," he replied evenly. "Racketeering. What better way for you to raise funds? But illegal all the same. Now listen here. You are outnumbered and out-gunned. You've been caught in the act, and-" he paused to reach into his jacket and take out a recorder "-on tape."

Someone behind him coughed.

"Metaphorically speaking," he added irritably. "Digital tape or something. Damn technology." There was a snigger from somewhere, which he ignored as he went on, "By all rights I should arrest you, but my employers are looking for a certain boy, and you have better relations with your colleagues-"

He stopped talking because Sora, recalling the Code, had punched him squarely in the nose. The officer held up a hand hastily to indicate the others shouldn't take this as a hostile act.

"Betray my friends?" Sora said flatly. "Have you lost what you laughingly call a mind? I'd sooner let you shoot me before I betray anyone to the likes of you." He was almost as surprised as some of the patrons at this.

There was an almost audible silence as the officer blinked back tears, taking up a serviette to dab at the nosebleed Sora had just given him. He examined the spots of blood on it with a detached looking curiosity, then finally looked back to Sora.

"I rather thought you'd respond like that," he said calmly. "None of you are very cooperative, I've noticed. But no matter." He reached into his jacket again and took out a second recorder, this one linked to a wire. "You've been listening, ma'am?" he spoke to it.

"Naturally you clot," the clipped, frosty tones of the Inspector came back, made tinny by the device. "Just hold them there. Backup is on the way. And stay alert, or you'll have them crawling up your backs."

"Hold it – I thought you said you wanted these two yourself."

"New information has come in," the Inspector replied. "We have several sightings toward the east end of town. The two you are detaining are of no moment."

Sora fought to stop his grin re-emerging. The Alliance were very efficient if Shingle's friend had already started arranging for sightings of him, and the Inspector had taken the bait.

"You _what_?" the officer said. "Your assistants are still here, surely?"

"What, do you think you can't even hold two brats now?" she snapped back angrily. "You've got backup on the way, so stop quaking in your boots just because they're Black Guard people and hold your position until they arrive. Now stop pestering me, you're clogging the radio channels."

The officer stared at the now silent device with colour draining out of his suddenly very fearful expression.

Not bothering to keep his voice down or conceal anything in any way, Sora casually leaned back against the nearby wall, looked to Strongarm and said, "You saw Shingle, didn't you?"

"Naturally," he replied. "I saw the sign he gave us too."

"Does it mean what I think it means?"

"Naturally," he repeated, grinning mirthlessly.

Sora turned back to the officer, grinning again. "Well, officer," he said almost pleasantly. "It looks like we have a race on our hands. Can your backup get to us before ours does?"

The officer stared back for a few moments, then straightened, trying to restore some of the confidence that had been lost with the Inspector's departure. He spotted the manager trying to hide under one of the counters, gabbling away to himself in his own language.

"You," he said peremptorily, pointing at him. "You have a back way out?"

"I pay!" the manager half-shouted. "I pay, no trouble! No back way! No help! No trouble!"

"Some use you are," he muttered to himself.

Strongarm meanwhile got up and leaned over to Sora.

"I've got a plan, kid," he murmured quietly. "They're gonna think we're up to something anyway after this, but I reckon we can take advantage of that. Shingle armed you?"

"No," Sora murmured back. "Was he supposed to?"

"Usually. I'll slip one of my daggers to you in a moment for you to use. We'll hold their attention here until the rest of the gang shows up. Unless anyone in here notices them out there, they'll pause to let us give an assessment of the situation – we've got a kind of sign-language code we can use in plain sight. Unless they're up to speed on it, which is unlikely, I'll be able to tell them without anyone the wiser."

"Then what?" Sora asked.

"Little trick we call the cheese grater," Strongarm replied, drawing away with a wink. Sora felt one hand slip behind him as he did so, allowing Sora to take the short handled blade without letting anyone realize. They were both given curious and suspicious looks but they did, he noticed, have their undivided attention. Sora started to understand what Shingle had meant about the gang – it didn't matter who they were, the small police contingent in front of them just saw two members of the Black Guard, and the entire reputation of the gang made them both seem more intimidating than they really were.

A multitude of sirens started up, made faint from distance. Several longingly wishful expressions appeared among those in front of them.

Sora had a brief inspiration, glancing up to the original officer, who appeared to have stemmed the nosebleed for now, though it was turning purple from bruising.

"Since we're obviously not going to tell you anything, why don't you tell us something," Sora asked him casually. "Heard there was a street not far from here what got all torn up, like if something came down outta the sky. What was that all about?"

"Crashed satellite," the answer came instantly, not from him but the others beyond. "It was in the papers. It was knocked out of orbit, they said."

Sora snorted. "And you believed them?"

"Contrary to popular young belief, the newspapers are not a propaganda machine," one older lady told him frostily. "We have a free press, you know."

"Oh, sure," Strongarm laughed derisively. "That's why there's only one news agency that dominates all media, and no competition lasts more than a week."

"The free market system at work," a man among them said. "If you can't stand the competition, you shouldn't have tried."

"Is that your reason for why they were driven out of business?" Strongarm demanded, reaching his arms high. Sora spotted why – several other members of the Guard had started to turn up. No one inside had noticed them yet. Strongarm's fingers were already flicking through gestures quickly as he continued to speak. "We hear more than you think," he went on. "Four of them were fire-bombed, and not by us. Two of them were bought out. Many of them took merger offers. Almost all of them reported having threats – attributed to any number of our gangs, even us, but we never made a single one, not unless they printed something serious against us."

Their backup outside started to come further into view, the members that had been watching the signals given now talking rapidly to them, perhaps to fill them in on a plan. Despite the open door, they kept unusually quiet, Sora noticed. They were also visibly armed, and the street outside had become far quieter, no doubt as a result.

In order to keep the attention of their audience, Sora took out the blade he'd been given, gave it a cursory examination, then started toying with it, tossing it idly from hand to hand. He took no chances when it came to potentially harming himself, but tried to conceal that as best he could. Periodically he'd stop, hold it as if about to use it, and stare with a slight smile at one of the others who he thought might be thinking of looking back outside. It unnerved more than a few of them, and after a few it seemed as if they were all holding their breaths collectively, as if expecting him to come for them any moment.

Strongarm continued to argue with the various patrons who had formed the officer's only assistance. The points went back and forth and even ventured off on to other topics, while Sora continued his own little display, surreptitiously watching their friends outside. Several of them now filed in on silent feet, quickly silencing the nearest patrons before they could alert their friends. Once one of the punks nodded to them with an evil looking smirk, Strongarm glanced back to Sora, who pushed himself away from the wall, still toying with the blade.

"I hate to interrupt your fascinating, if one sided-" he glanced back to Strongarm, "-argument. You were all doing so badly, after all. I think you'll find however, your backup just lost the race."

Several people turned around hastily, only to quickly drop their weapons as their own were pointed at them. This in turn attracted even more attention, until effectively everyone had surrendered to the punks that had done almost nothing to commandeer total attention.

Sora took the opportunity to tap the original officer on the shoulder, who actually flinched back as he turned.

"See this?" Sora asked him, showing him the dagger.

"Y-yes?" he stammered, shrinking back from it.

Sora punched him lower down with his free hand, bringing tears to the officers eyes a second time, then brought up that fist and told him, "Shoulda been watching this."

"Alright guys, round 'em up!" Strongarm boomed. "You know the drill – take 'em down to the old AV factory and let rip!"

The reaction to this was almost astonishing. As the punks started picking them up, searching them for other concealed weapons and handing them to another one who was apparently serving as a kind of quartermaster as she took stock of what they had acquired, several fainted, several more started to make a mad bid for freedom, and some few even tried to beg for some kind of mercy. Only a handful went quietly.

During all the action, Sora slipped back behind the counter and found the manager. He took out the money he'd been given earlier and handed it back. "For the inconvenience," he told the terrified but grateful little man.

"But your friends, they..."

"Don't worry – I'll smooth things over with them," Sora told him, then left him to it. Already most of them were had cleared the place out, leaving the place almost completely empty but for those who were packing up the confiscated weaponry. Shingle was waiting at the door for them.


	15. News

Shingle had not been among the punks who'd gotten him and Strongarm out trouble, though two others joined them to finish their rounds explaining Shingle had told them to do so and that it was Sora's run now. After the sight of the police officers being marched, or in some cases dragged, down the street by their own members not only were the rest of Carst's businesses more than willing to pay up without any trouble, but quite a number of previously unconvinced ones along Laringo. Those who still stubbornly held out he made 'examples' of – some wrecked stock, smashed windows, and once the manager's car was simply taken from them against the owner's shrill protests.

Roma gave him more trouble as no business here was convinced yet, and he changed fewer minds along that route. One large electronics retailer stubbornly held out for some time until the son of the store's owner happened along and cut them a deal – he'd join them if they left him alone. Strongarm casually remarked that technically none of them were actually supposed to handle recruitment in any form, but since the Black Guard had very vague ideas of who should, it was put aside. Once they'd directed the boy down to their local club, his father became _very_ cooperative, and promised profusely to pay up – if only to see that nothing untoward happened to his son while with them.

After attempting to menace a few more into cooperating he finally led the way back up to the club himself, sending one of the other punks on ahead to find out where Shingle had got to. If he didn't find out by the time he got back, he decided he'd just go on back upstairs again – maybe as the local leader in Latissa's absence, that was where he'd go.

Strongarm and the other member with him both headed straight for the bar almost as soon as they'd got through the door. Sora briefly considered the idea of following suit before he thought better and eventually found his way upstairs, where with one of the Grey Wolves, Shingle waited.

"We tailed them on their way out," the Grey Wolves member was saying as he slipped in. "At least until they were out of our territory. Got the local Streetfighter clans to keep an eye on them after that. Last we heard they'd gone running east."

"East?" Shingle asked curiously. "Odd. We don't have anything gone on up there to my knowledge, but there _are_ two other Guard establishments up in that area, so that doesn't really mean anything. Any idea what she found so interesting?"

"Not a clue."

"The Inspector?" Sora asked. Both nodded. "Think I can help you out there. Your guy worked quicker than I thought. The guys that tried to hold us up in that café were working with her, but had a call on the radio saying she had sightings up to the east of town."

Shingle considered that. "It fits," he said almost clinically. "Rat might have his faults, but he's a consummate professional, and he can get things done that quickly. Can your contacts keep tabs on them for a time?" he asked the Grey Wolf.

"No idea," he shrugged. "Corporal Colbor suggested that her movements could be useful, but those people are unreliable and the clans all have their own feuds with each other. They don't stray lightly into each others territory even for us."

Shingle nodded again, "I'll send some guys up to talk with them, maybe even act as go-betweens. You can go, unless there's something else."

The Grey Wolf gave a kind of half-salute and let himself out, while Shingle sighed and leaned back on the couch.

"You don't like command, do you," Sora asked shrewdly after a moment.

"It's not that. I run this district – the territory we control from here – even when Latissa is here, it's just when she's here she takes a more active role in local affairs so I have to do less. Normally I don't mind that, but she's been down here ever since your Nobody left, and it's taking me a while to get back into the swing of things again. I almost forgot how many details there are. How did things go with you after we nabbed those coppers?"

"Not bad," he answered, handing over the takings. "There's only a few on Laringo we don't own now, and a few on Roma. I gave back what we were paid at the café because of what happened, told the manager I'd sort it out with you."

"A bit excessive, but if he knows that he'll probably be more loyal to us for it. All in all, not bad for your first day out with us. I'd have handled the café situation differently myself, but everyone handles things differently."

"What would you have done?" Sora asked.

"Bluffed my way out of it. Made them think backup was already in the area. I'm sure you noticed their reaction when we actually did turn up. Anyway, got a few things that you're uniquely suited to, if you're not too tired."

"Define 'uniquely suited', Shingle," Sora replied. "I'll decide for sure once I know what trouble you're getting me into this time."

"Boss passed on some information about you that we got from Roxas and the Oracle. Apparently you've a Keyblade that can unlock anything. We want to make use of that. There's two places up in the city centre to the north and one in the docklands area."

"I can't exactly get out of this, can I?"

"Why would you want to?"

"I dunno, somehow as long as it's just me you're making use of I'm fine, but once you involve the Keyblade..."

"Hey, you don't have to if you don't want to," Shingle told him. "But think of it this way. The two up in town are joint-jobs with a few other gangs, getting into places where we can't normally. As a Black Guard member you'd actually be there to beat up anyone who tries to stop you, but your Keyblade will make things easier. If you can get in and out without having to pick the locks and such, there's less chance of getting caught."

"And the docklands one?" Sora prompted.

"Science lab," he answered. "A ship came in late last night. Sources can tell us it came from a military research facility on the Sea Metropolis and it's being stored in the lab before being moved to the military base a couple kilometres north of down, and once it's there it's out of our reach for good."

"Let me guess," Sora interrupted. "Not only do we want it before then, but it's got some kind of lock that you don't reckon you can just pick or something?"

"Not bad for a newbie," Shingle remarked. "That one's purely within us until find out what it is and who best to hand it to, so you'll be in good company for that. The others are joint-ops like I said. You and another of us will be joining the others going."

"I'll think about it," Sora said. "Any word on Tommy or his boys?"

Shingle shook his head. "Not yet, but Assault likely has the Alliance keeping eyes out for them by now. If you're not going to be useful for a bit, either go down to the bar or find an empty room to kip in – just remember to lock the door after you so no one else joins you. Unless you _want _unexpected company, that is," he added.

Sora gave him a flat stare.

"I tell it the way it is, kiddo," Shingle shrugged.

* * *

><p>Sora lay awake for a long time after eventually finding an unlocked room that was unoccupied. Apparently Shingle really had been telling the truth and many of the unlocked doors were left so in the hopes of company. Several girls, and not a few boys too, attempted to invite him to share with them. Sora steadfastly turned them down though, keeping to the excuse that no matter who they were, they weren't his type.<p>

After just three days – and only one awake – he still felt like a stranger here. The Black Guard had welcomed him and once he'd started to pick up their quirks he'd fit in well enough, but it was only a start. He had a long way to go if he wanted to remain with them.

Much of his thoughts turned back to Latissa's words, and thinking about what he wanted to do if he had to stay, though he muttered a brief oath to himself that he'd do whatever it took short of breaking the Code to avoid that possibility. At the very least he had to reunite himself with Donald and Goofy, and who knew what they were doing, or what condition they were in. He put from his mind all thoughts of the possibilities that came to him. None of them were ones he wanted to think about.

But if he got them from Corporate hands, would the Alliance accept them? Would _they_ accept what he may have become by then? That thought in itself sent him wondering what Latissa would turn up for him, all manner of unusual and probably highly idealized ideas floating through his imagination until sleep finally took hold.

* * *

><p>The room was dark, but had there been any light it would have been revealed to be utilitarian, almost spartan. The room was so scrupulously clean that one might have mistaken it for an expensive hotel room.<p>

Beside the door a simple work desk with a lamp on it and what appeared at first glance to be a mirror above. Only the control panel beside it betrayed its technological enhancements, and smaller variants of the panel replaced locks on the draws of the desk. These draws were not intended to be opened by anyone other than the occupant.

A wardrobe was inset into the wall beside the broad double-bed, a bed that almost appeared empty were it not for the slight creases from the small man slumbering within. Neither gave much away about this individual, except in the sense that it was this plainness that should have told everyone exactly who resided here.

The mirror gave a faint buzz, then it's reflective surface lit up and filled with the image of a man's head. Sound emerged, a low hum with an orchestra of tapping and beeping from the scene behind him, a scene that would not look out of place in a sci-fi movie.

"Akira." It came from the man shown. He waited a time, then slightly louder he repeated.

In the bed, Akira inclined his head, sighed, then slipped out. The fact that he was naked appeared to bother neither of them.

"It's stupid in the morning, Tamayana," Akira said, his voice barely audible. "What's so important it couldn't wait until the briefing?"

"Inspector Cahartez called in," he replied. "She failed to secure Sora, though she suspects foul play on that front." Akira waited, suspecting there was more. "She did however secure a certain other boy."

"The Oracle?" Akira asked, keeping hope out of his voice.

"Next best thing. Your own son."

Akira's expression hardened. "It's about time I had the chance to have words with him. Does Kane know he's here?"

"He isn't there yet, Akira," Tamayana replied. "I've told her to hold him under the highest guard possible at the embassy for now. You'll want to keep him and Kane separated though. Might I suggest finding something for him to do outside the tower?"

He considered it, then shook his head, "No. He's our liaison with those creatures. If he leaves the tower, they must go with him, and they shouldn't leave the tower. Imagine the newsreels if people see them."

"What's wrong with that? As far as the populace know, you launched the Crystal Palace project as a means to search for alien life. Just call them that – or send them in an AV with blackout windows, so no one can see them if you really don't want them to be seen."

"I should probably have thought of that," he conceded reluctantly.

"And put me out of a job? You wish," Tamayana laughed. "There's one other thing too. It could have waited until morning, but since you're up... the Reaver arrived last night. It's been stored up in our lab there until I can arrange for something that can bear the load to take it up to the military base."

"They're still loyal to us and not the Union, aren't they?"

"The base? Of course. They've had another offer from Cayenne, but they couldn't match your last bid. And you did do them a few favours with their equipment, so they're inclined to stick with you anyway. If you're worried about security, don't be. Nothing comes out of there without first going past me."

"I'm more concerned about anyone finding out about the existence of Reaver," Akira told him. "Whatever arrangements you make-"

"I know, old friend. No one sees it who doesn't have to. You can rest easy."


	16. Making Trouble

It took Sora a few moments to remember where he was when he woke up. The sounds of the city still filtered faintly in, but even muffled the music in the club below still dominated all other sound. Since he'd yet to see a window that hadn't been boarded up, what awaited outside was unknown – as was what time it was.

It took him a little longer to remember where everything was, not just in the room he'd commandeered but around the clubhouse. It did have bathrooms as he already knew, but they were rarely marked as such.

He made sure not to leave anything behind in the room before he left, not that he didn't trust his new-found friends, but the rooms appeared to be available to anyone with no designated rooms except for the lounge where Latissa or Shingle resided.

The one thing they apparently didn't have on site was somewhere to get breakfast – or anything else to eat, it seemed. He wondered idly if that was so they had reason to support the local businesses. It was a sensible reason, but probably not the most likely one.

Shingle might worry, but he wasn't too concerned. As long as he kept to known territory he reasoned he'd likely be relatively safe, and if anything came up it'd be a kind of test for him, seeing how well he could handle local incidents without needing to fall back on others.

Naturally, this meant passing through the club floor, which looked and sounded no different to the night before. If he hadn't been awake before though, he definitely was now. He slipped through the others for the door, not even needing to actively think of them as his friends – he just knew it.

Outside, the light illuminated the patchy, thin-looking smog in a brilliant white, the diffuse light providing fewer shadows to hide in. He vaguely remembered Whisper mentioning something about the various colours of smog meaning something, but reasoned that since there were already a good dozen or so members gathered around outside smoking, it was probably safe. Some offered him a smoke of his own, but he declined, earning him a few curious looks. Shingle had been right, they noticed one who didn't submit to the usual vices more than those who did.

Among them was the familiar face of Thrasher, the one apparently terrorized by Roxas, who after a few remarks to his friends fell into step beside him.

"Something bothering you?" Sora asked.

"What makes you think that?" Thrasher replied, sounding belligerent.

"You're here," he shrugged. "And I don't recall asking for an escort. Unless Shingle told you to tag along, but I doubt that."

"You're one of us, Shade," Thrasher told him. "That means we're all your friends, and you're a friend to us all."

"What's that got to do with it? You've got your reasons, haven't you?"

"Someone's testy this morning," he observed. "Lets call it curiosity for now. I heard about what happened yesterday, and I'm interested to see how you handle yourself if anything comes up. Which knowing us it probably will," he added with a short laugh. "Some idiot put out a movie once that involved the Alliance, except they stereotyped us so badly that they only really show us lot. Ever since, we've caught the brunt of the so-called wrath of the corporate state."

"I'm starting to think this place would be better off without those idiots," Sora said. "They're corrupt, money-hungry power-crazed egomaniacs – and that's just the ones I know about."

"No, that's a pretty accurate view of all of them really," Thrasher conceded, following Sora's lead back into the Italian district. "You're not the first to come up with that viewpoint – or had you noticed?"

Sora chuckled. "You know, for one of us, you're oddly human, you know that?" Thrasher gave him a curious look, so he continued. "You know I'm the same kid you saw yesterday, I don't doubt that. Back then I guess I saw you like everyone else."

"Big, hard, intimidating," he nodded. "It's understandable. Now you're one of us you're finding we're just like everyone else really, is that it?"

Sora just nodded as he headed into a general store, ignoring the harsh glare the till attendants gave them.

"You're paying for your own you know," he told Thrasher in a quieter voice.

"Naturally. But as I understand it, you've not been here long. Where are you going to get the money from?

"I took a small cut of the takings yesterday," Sora shrugged. "If Shingle wants it back he just has to ask – if he even notices."

Thrasher laughed, slapping him hard on the back, the rough gesture telling him he'd managed to slip that past them without causing trouble – and perhaps that something like this was almost to be expected of him. Maybe when Latissa came back, he wouldn't want to leave.

While they paid up, Sora decided to see about seeing more of King City, and since he had Thrasher with him, someone wise to the streets and their threats, he'd at least be relatively safe – and again, if Shingle wanted him, he just had to catch up with them or send someone to find them.

Thrasher noticed this as they left the store, since Sora turned up toward the towering skylines of the city proper, but either he had nothing to say about this or was more interested in his breakfast.

He wasn't sure what it was he wanted to see as such, but just reasoned that unless they weren't as honest as they sounded – which he doubted now – they wouldn't object to him just generally seeing the city. Given how large the Black Guard seemed, it was probable that most of their members spent some time doing this anyway.

He got a nudge from Thrasher as they turned up a new street, directing his attention toward a patrol car parked outside one store. The car had only one officer in, sat in the back of the car with someone who was most definitely _not_ a policeman.

"Aren't we right on the border of the Combat Zone?" Sora murmured to Thrasher, who nodded, still eating his breakfast. "Odd to see them down here on their own. Tommy told me they didn't like come down this way without backup."

"Sometimes they get cocky," he shrugged. "Go careful. They're always in threes. The other two are there somewhere."

"A copper's a copper," Sora brushed it aside. "I'm not too worried."

The officer in the car noticed them coming, reaching one hand up to a radio strapped to his uniform and speaking into it – no doubt to warn his two errant companions about their approach. As they drew closer he saw that the other occupant was a youngster, not of the Black Guard but likely a part of the Alliance at least.

"She belong to any gang you know of?" he nudged Thrasher.

"No, but that don't mean nothing. Not all gangs are so obvious you know. What are you planning Shade? I don't like unexpected surprises, and I'd like to know if you're going to put us in a fire fight."

"Oh, stop worrying," Sora told him. "I'm just going to release our friend there from their custody and if they don't like it I'll make it clear what I think of them."

"You mean beat them up," he replied, putting away his breakfast and cracking his knuckles.

"I can't imagine why you'd think that," Sora said. As he approached the patrol car he spotted the two missing officers in the hairdresser's nearby, which looked like it had seen some trouble – everything inside had been scattered about as if a tornado had passed through.

"This is our territory," Thrasher muttered to himself. "They shouldn't be calling the coppers for something like that. We'll want to investigate this," he told Sora.

"Afterwards," Sora told him, rapping on the car window beside the officer, who was cuffed to the young woman beside him – and in turn both her hands were cuffed together too. He waited for the window to be rolled only far enough down for them to talk.

"What do you want?" the officer demanded ungraciously.

"You have one of our friends there," Sora told him. "We want to know why – in case we have to... take steps."

"You can't threaten me! I am an officer of the law!"

"You don't say?" he replied with exaggerated surprise. The girl snickered. "Since he's not going to cooperate, why don't you tell us instead, friend?"

"I wrote a song," she shrugged. "They don't like it."

"That song as you call it is merely a platform for anti-corporate sympathies," the officer said flatly. "Designed for nothing more than rallying your ragtag bands of rebellious brats into continuing your so-called war on us."

"Of course it is," she said matter-of-factly. "Everyone knows that a good song can provide a good morale boost."

"That's not a morale boost, that's blatant propaganda!"

"Oh, and what you people put out isn't?" she snapped icily.

"I don't think we're getting anywhere with this," Sora said, trying the handle of the door and not surprised when he found it was locked. "Anyone watching?" he asked Thrasher.

"Don't look like it," he answered after a moment. "The two coppers in there, but they ain't gonna see much with this car in the way."

"Good," Sora grunted. "I'd rather not make a habit of this. Give me some room here will you?"

Thrasher obliged, keeping a lookout. Sora muttered a few remarks to himself, glanced about furtively just in case, then summoned the Keyblade and tapped it lightly on the lock of the door, causing the central locking to unlock all the doors. Before the stunned officer could react and lock them again from the inside, Sora seized the handle and held the officer back with his free hand while he repeated for the locks on the two pairs of handcuffs. In moments the girl was scrambling out of the other side of the patrol car and hurrying around to the safety of the two of them.

"Trouble, Shade," Thrasher warned as Sora slammed the door back again, re-locking it with another tap. The officer inside tried to unlock it again from the inside, but interestingly the Keyblade seemed to have nullified it – it wouldn't unlock any more.

The two officers in the store were already hurrying for them. They'd clearly seen _something_ had happened and knew the girl had been released, but they didn't know how he'd done it. Sora quickly dismissed the Keyblade again before anyone else saw it, then after a moments hesitation – he hadn't planned ahead for this – he muttered "_Freeze!_", the ice magic shooting toward the feet of the two officers. One was temporarily frozen to the tarmac, but the other narrowly avoided it – only to have Thrasher deliver a stunning blow that sent him tumbling to the ground spitting curses – but still wary enough not to make a second attempt.

"You see, it's like this," Sora said in a casual tone that belied the nerves he felt beneath. "We don't like people who arrest our friends for stupid reasons, and we don't like the stupid people who come up with those reasons. You're right here on our turf, and we have every reason to beat you up."

"We don't recognise your claim on this district," one sneered.

"We don't recognise your lack of recognition," Thrasher answered in kind.

"Right," Sora nodded. "So here's what you can do. You can go run along on your own two legs – or the car if you can get into it again," he added with a brief smirk. "Or you can stay here and you'll be leaving in an ambulance in however many pieces are left."

"I don't have to take orders from your ilk," the other officer outside snapped at him.

Sora let his smirk turn into a hostile glare, holding out one hand. "Think again," he said in a low voice and this time muttered, "_Fire!_" causing a fireball to hover above his hand instead of being released. "I can throw this at either one of you," he told them. "And there's more where it came from."

Thrasher moved up beside him with a long, evil looking dirk in his hand. "Dunno about that," he said. "But I know this'll hurt. Take your pick – run and live or stay and see what happens?"

The officer in the car had managed to regain some semblance of composure after his frantic attempts to unlock the vehicle again, and even had some sense as during this he managed to wind down the windows. Those outside gave him one last glare before they scrambled awkwardly through the windows and started off. Sora threw the fireball after them, shattering the rear window but otherwise having little effect on them.


	17. Family Time

Thrasher kept an eye on their newly retrieved friend while Sora made a few inquiries into the damage done to the hairdressers the police had been at, discovering that – allegedly – they were the ones responsible for it. That sounded suspicious in itself, so he had them show him their proof, which came in the form of a jacket left behind and security footage.

The footage looked convincing enough to most, but Sora spotted a few oddities. The supposed raiders didn't even think of breaking windows or mirrors, just scattering their tools and such around, and while they appeared rowdy it was definitely not the kind of thing he thought the Black Guard would do.

A quick search of the jacket left behind turned up a short office memo detailing the exact events they'd just observed, under a letterhead that revealed the true culprits. At the top of the page in heavy, imposing lettering were the words, 'Tansetsu Securities – from the office of the Chairman'

After turning that up and convincing the staff of it's legitimacy, Sora absently promised them they'd do something about this and headed back outside, handing Thrasher the note.

"Them again," he snarled with contempt after glancing at it. "As if we didn't have enough to worry about."

"Who?" the girl asked, taking it off him. "Oh. Akira's corporation. Yeah, that's bad news," she agreed.

"It's not bad news girly, it's a prelude to a fight," Thrasher told her. "You know this has to be passed on to the boss, right?" he asked Sora.

"Shingle, Latissa or both?" he replied.

"Both. Along with what you did there before. How did you do that, anyway?"

"Do what? Hold fire in my hand and create ice around their feet?" Sora asked. "I didn't. And I certainly didn't do it by magic, because that doesn't exist. Does it?"

Thrasher frowned, then to the girl, "Go on. I'll look you up this evening, girly."

She winked at him and started on her way, while Thrasher put an arm around Sora and started guiding him back toward their clubhouse.

"Shade, you took the Code. Don't treat that like a question," he said, holding up his free hand. "That means what's ours is yours – within reason – and what's yours is ours. We don't cooperate and share, we're no better than them up in their metal towers."

"Don't lecture me," Sora told him. "I know that. I've got a few things that aren't from around here though, things you won't find anyone else with. What you saw back there are examples of them. I'm supposed to keep from using them just to meddle in the affairs of worlds – though that's kinda gone out the window now," he admitted. "The zombie idiots did that for me. That doesn't mean I can just suspend the rules."

"Oh, go hang the rules. The rules are what got people here into this mess. The rules are what lets the 'zombie idiots' do things like this to you and get away with it. As long as you keep to the Code, the rules happen to other people."

They walked on in silence for a time, Sora considering this in some detail before he finally asked his next question.

"Tell me something, Thrasher. Are we the good guys, or the bad guys?"

"You should already know the answer to that from both sides."

"I don't mean by our standards or the zombies," Sora said, waving a hand to dismiss that. "I mean the normal people. The ones who have to suffer under the zombies for whatever reason."

"Hard to say really. We have our sympathisers and our detractors. I doubt you'll find it hard to find someone who, however privately, hope we're on to something given how corrupt the system is. But you _will_ find it hard to find someone who'll admit it openly – unless they're one of us."

"So that basically makes us the bad guys then?" Sora persisted.

"You can think of it that way if you really want, why?"

Sora grinned at him. "Because I've never been on that side before, and if I am it means I might as well toss out the rulebook. Bad guys always get to break the rules."

* * *

><p>Tommy considered his options. The Embassy, supposedly for the use of visiting diplomats, was not an unfamiliar place to him, and the stately rooms he'd been locked into were a place he'd been before.<p>

The difference was, of course, his situation. He had freedom of movement inside the suite, though they had been stripped of anything that could be used even as an improvised weapon. Were he to try to leave and enter the rest of the consulate though, he'd find there were the Inspector's trained apes waiting for him. Stepping out on the balcony was a possibility – it had been how he'd broken into the Embassy once before, following the guidance of his then-mentor Ven – but now the fake-grass lawns were littered with more of the Inspector's people.

There were still options. Ven had taught him many things, not all of which had been approved of by the leader of their gang back then. Still the Golden Lions, but the gang of that time was very different. There were always at least a good forty members, and they had their hands across the board. Members from other gangs periodically joined them, when relations went sour they could take refuge there – the old leader ensured that the gang was a safe haven for all kinds.

They negotiated agreements with others who'd have them steal for them, or carry cargoes through territories they couldn't go themselves. When other gangs didn't want to deal directly with another kind of gang, they would call on them and any of those people within who were willing to help in their place. The Golden Lions, it had often been remarked, was the Jack of all Trades.

There were windows besides the balcony, but as a matter of routine he'd already checked them and found them either too small or locked – usually both. In the ever-changing political turmoil of the Union, the Embassy was a safe haven for visiting dignitaries – and that meant keeping people out. Those same precautions also kept him in.

He could hide – the suite had any number of places for that. They would only search however, and that in turn would end up staving off the inevitable, and perhaps was even expected of him. He was not going to dance to their tune if he could help it.

So he waited, knowing that before long if he or the Alliance didn't get him out of it, he'd be obliged to speak his first words to his father in over ten years. He'd stopped talking to him at the age of four after they'd argued over his future from there on. His father had wanted him to go to a highly exclusive and expensive corporate school that would offer the very best education money could buy – but in being such a school, it was also the worst form of brainwashing. The children started there at such a young age, entering a fully corporate-controlled environment so early, that there was, he'd often since thought, no hope for anyone there.

His father had been concerned about his growing sympathies for what back then was a much smaller Alliance, before it had even picked up that generalized name. That had, of course, been the main reason he had wanted Tommy to go there, and also the main reason he had objected so vociferously.

Two weeks afterwards and after many attempts made to get him to talk to his father again, Tommy had concocted a very rudimentary plan that would get him past his father's general staff and security and out into the city, where he had hoped to find someone with better sense.

At the time it had seemed like genius. A few oversights the security team made here and there, an old note from his father's study with a few minor alterations. He'd only been stopped once, and that note got him through the incident without a problem.

It was what came next that was an issue. Since he had rarely been allowed out of the corporate skyscraper where they lived, he had a very poor idea of the city itself. He'd wandered for two days before finally giving up, lost, hungry and wondering if he'd made the right choices at all.

And then, Ven had found him. The tall blonde haired youth hadn't been looking for him, he'd been on the run from others, but in a split second he'd taken in the sorry state Tommy had been in at the time, snatched him up and got him to safety with him. Words had been exchanged later between Ven and Saban, the then-current leader of the Golden Lions, and from that point on Ven had become his mentor and tutor.

Tommy's attention was brought back to the present by a large screen set into the wall, flicking into life and showing the familiar features of Akira Tansetsu, head of the Tansetsu family, Governor of King City, CEO of the sprawling multinational security corporation that had once been nothing but the family business, and the man who had incidentally sired him.

"Father," Tommy said with cold irony. "I see you don't care to share the same room as me."

"Prudence," Akira replied, his ascetic face radiating unruffled calm. "No doubt you can understand that. I've heard quite a bit about your antics over the past few years."

"As I have yours," he replied evenly. "I understand you became city Governor. Was that by mistake, or did you just buy your way in?"

"I bought it," he shrugged, clearly having no qualms about such an admission. "Money buys everything, sooner or later. It was merely another step on the way."

"The Presidency?" Tommy said with a cruel smile. "Don't you think you're a little under qualified for that job?"

"Under qualified? My boy, have you not heard – it's one of the few top jobs that requires no previous experience. At any rate, qualification is irrelevant. I already own three quarters of the senators – I even helped get some of the elected in the first place. When the farce the nation calls an election next rolls around, I intend to put my own name in nomination-"

"And buy your way to the top," Tommy finished scathingly. "So typical. Do you really think it'll make that much difference?"

"You think it won't? You and your friends... the so-called Alliance are merely an inconvenience. A troublesome one, to be sure, but I think even you would be hard-pressed to stand against the might of the Union's military command – not to mention the recently formed Mecha corps. My own addition," he said with a hint of pride. "The first completely mechanised units are still a ways off due to issues with the AI's we've been trying to train, but our human operatives are drawn from the elite."

"How impressive," Tommy said flatly. "So you're going to bring in this metal encased bully-boys and stomp us down. People will watch you crush the rebellion for doing what they don't do only for fear of what passes for law. That's what caused us in the first place you idiot. You'll only make it worse. That's what puzzles us about you people, you know that? You think a bit of money and a show of force is all that's needed to cement your tyrannical rule, but you don't have a clue how the common folk think. You've spent so much time locked up in your tower you don't even know how to get your message across now. People see your propaganda for what it is, Father. They only continue to obey out of fear, and that's what we draw on."

"And that is exactly why I will make examples of you," Akira replied. "The thoughts of the common folk do not concern me. They are merely there to fuel my campaign. As long as they require goods, I make money. As long as I have money, the world will be mine – and what lays beyond also." Akira leaned closer and smiled, continuing, "My team is even now working on the craft you retrieved Sora from, boy. His friends, unwitting allies to my cause will soon unlock the mysteries held within, and then all the universe will be mine for the taking. Entire worlds, untouched by the hand of industry. Imagine the profits – profits you could still share in, my son."

"Forget it," he spat. "I won't be a party to spoiling other worlds like you have this one. Either let me go or do whatever you're going to do and get on with it, old man. The sight of you is starting to turn my stomach."


End file.
